A Matter of State
by shelvesinthecloset
Summary: After Gaara's siblings decide its in his best interest and Suna's if he gets married, a leaf kunoichi is picked and a marriage is arranged. Can Ino and Gaara find love despite the circumstances?
1. Prologue

AN: Okay, I thought I ought to actually post something instead of just reading, since I do write. I have a hard time finishing my stories some times, but this one has latched onto my brain pretty strongly, so I think we'll be safe. Just a word of warning, I am in the middle of exam period write now so no guarantee when the next update will be. I'm almost done the next chapter, but we'll see. Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated, and will only encourage me to write more, so please :) anyways, on with the fic!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did Ino would get a lot more screen time.

Prologue:

Kankuro stared at his brother from across the Kazekage's desk. Gaara was going through papers, stopping every once in a while to rub his eyes or head and sigh. Kankuro was fascinated. Even though it had been years since Gaara's personality had taken a turn for the better after his fight with that Uzumaki brat and since Shukaku had been extracted Kankuro still found the sight of Gaara peacefully working away incredibly interesting.

Gaara sighed once more before looking up at his older brother, who was staring at him from the chair on the other side of his desk.

"What do you want Kankuro?" Gaara asked. Even though he was no longer a cold-blooded killer Gaara was still not the most sociable creature.

Kankuro was spared the pain of explaining himself when Temari barged in, arms full of yet more scrolls for Gaara to go through.

Gaara looked up at her with pleading eyes, but she just laughed and dumped them on her younger brother's desk before dropping into the chair next to Kankuro.

"What's up with you?" Temari asked Kankuro casually.

"Not much. Got another date with that girl from the market tonight," Kankuro shrugged.

"Getting serious?" Temari asked hopefully.

"Nah, I'm not ready for commitment, not for a long while," Kankuro grinned. "I'm a free spirit; places to go, things to see, people to do..."

Temari lightly slapped her brother on his arm. "You're impossible," she said in a voice that let you know that this argument was old and she was resigned to her fate as the older sister of a pervert.

Gaara looked up from his paperwork and cleared his throat. "Ahem. Some people are trying to work here," he said a little petulantly.

His older siblings ignored him as they continued to chat about their love lives.

Finally Gaara closed the book he'd been skimming through with a loud snap that made Temari and Kankuro jump in their seats, and then slowly turn their heads to face him, wide-eyed.

"As fascinating as your social lives are, I am trying to finish up this paperwork, so if you wouldn't mind carrying this conversation elsewhere..." Gaara intoned, staring at his siblings with his patented death glare.

Unfortunately, the death glare had lost its effectiveness on his irritating siblings due to extreme overuse. Temari waved her hand at him in a shooing gesture while Kankuro just burst out laughing – again.

Seriously, what was the point in being Kazekage if your own siblings wouldn't even listen to you?

"Gaara you need to get a social life," Temari said in that 'I'm-your-older-sister-and-I-know-what's-best-for-you-so-listen-to-me-okay?' tone of voice. "All you ever do lately is work."

Kankuro's eyes lit up – it was obvious he had just come up with an incredibly genius idea (at least in his eyes).

Gaara, however, elected to ignore his brother and respond to Temari's comment. "That's because there's a lot of work to be done," he grumbled. "Being Kazekage isn't exactly easy you know."

"You know what he really needs?" Kankuro decided to chime in, unable to contain his glee at his great idea.

"What?" Temari asked, turning back to face him with obvious interest.

"He needs a girl," Kankuro said matter-of-factly.

Gaara's eyes shot up from the book he'd gone back to perusing.

"What?" he squawked.

"Actually, Kankuro might have a good point here..." Temari said thoughtfully.

"Of course I do. All you need to do is get laid and all that tension you're carrying around will just go awa- OW!" Kankuro shrieked, cut off by a whack on the head from Temari's fan.

"That's _not_ what I meant," Temari said, glaring at Kankuro angrily. "Gaara's old enough that he should be looking for a wife."

Silence greeted her as her two younger brothers stared at her as if she'd just said that Shukaku had really been a friendly old demon who never did anyone any harm.

"B-but your both older than me – and you're not married," Gaara hastened to point out.

Temari sniffed. "_I_ happen to be in a very serious relationship, and Shikamaru and I just don't feel ready to take that step yet."

"And you expect me to-"

"_I_ on the other hand," Kankuro interjected, "am in several relationships and don't feel the slightest inclination to mess with things right now. I am perfectly happy."

"So why do I-"

"Besides," Temari said with an evil grin. "You're the Kazekage. It's expected that you'll marry, even if it's only for the good of the state. No time like the present."

"But I-" Gaara attempted once more to state his opinion on the matter.

"Good, that's settled then," Temari smirked.

Gaara was speechless.

"So who do you think he should marry?" Kankuro asked in the awkward silence that followed their earlier conversation.

"Hmmm, well not anyone you've dated, that could lead to complications," Temari said pensively.

"Agreed," Kankuro said, looking thoughtful for what might be the first time in his life. "Actually, he probably shouldn't marry from the Sand at all."

"How do you gather?" Temari asked.

"Well, as the Kazekage he has the opportunity to make a political alliance with his marriage, which is something we should take advantage of seeing as how we're not the strongest village. And we still haven't completely recovered from the damage Orochimaru inflicted while he pretended to be Kazekage. Besides, people here may still be a bit more – umm, timid – around Gaara, what with all their lovely childhood memories of him. Oh, and you might be hard pressed to find a decent girl here I haven't already dated. Besides, those Leaf kunoichi are hot," Kankuro smirked. He saved himself from another rap of Temari's fan by adding "-and a stronger alliance with the Leaf can only be beneficial right now."

"Point," Temari conceded.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Gaara whined, sounding an awful lot like a five year old for the leader of a ninja village.

"Nope," Temari said, before catching her baby brother's crestfallen and worried look. "Look Gaara, I really do think this will be good for you. Trust us, okay?"

Looking scared beyond all belief, Gaara held his sister's gaze for a few moments before nodding almost imperceptibly.

"Great," she grinned. "I'm off to talk to the council about this then. They'll be thrilled!"

She turned and exited the room, pulling Kankuro with her as he ranted on about the leaf kunoichi.

"And there's that pink-haired girl, although she's a prude and hits too hard – oh and that girl with the two buns in her hair, great body – oh, and how could I forget, that absolutely gorgeous blonde-"

The door shut on Kankuro's ramblings, hiding his almost drooling face from Gaara and enveloping the office once more in silence.

Finally. He could work. Picking the book up once more Gaara returned his attention to his original task.

Unfortunately, all his peace of mind had been brutally shattered and working was now impossible.

Damn it. Honestly. You'd think there were some things he'd get a say in. He _was_ the Kazekage after all.


	2. The Decision

AN: Wow, that didn't actually take me too long. This chapter's a bit longer (yay!) but also a bit lacking in the humor department. Sorry, but it involves some pretty life changing decisions and serious character portrayal, but its necessary. I'm not 100 happy about how it turned out, but it's done. Feedback is always appreciated.

Chapter One:_ The Decision_

Tsunade sat at her desk, her fingers massaging her temples wearily. What she wouldn't do for some sake right now – maybe...

Shizune chose that moment to walk in and check on her progress. It was like that girl had a radar or something, making it next to impossible for Tsunade to drink while working. Why did she take the job of Hokage again?

"Have you decided yet?" Shizune asked her curiously.

"It's not like I have much choice in the matter, is it? We need this as much as they do. A stronger alliance with the Sand is exactly what we need right now. It would stop those who think that they can pull something on us just because we have yet to fully recover from the Sound Invasion." Sure, the invasion had been years ago, but the kind of losses they had faced took generations to recover from, not years.

"Who?" Shizune asked quietly.

Tsunade sighed in defeat. "I don't know – this isn't something I want to ask someone to do lightly. The wrong person could be disastrous for us, or for them, and besides – it isn't an easy thing to ask."

"When is the Suna delegate coming?" Shizune asked.

"Any minute now," Tsunade responded.

Speak of the devil, and he appears. At that moment there was a polite rap on the door to Tsunade's office and a minor official stuck his head through.

"Hogake-sama?" he said respectfully. "The delegate from Suna has arrived. Can I bring her in?"

Tsunade nodded tiredly before straightening her back and gathering up stray materials on her desk. Wouldn't want other villages to see all that information.

Temari took a deep breath to steady herself before walking into the Hokage's office. This was going to be an awkward conversation on both sides, arranged marriages, although still practiced, were definitely not the norm anymore.

Walking through, she seated herself in the chair across from the Hokage; it was strange how similar and how completely different this office was from her brother's. The layout was the same, but it was full of books and scrolls and other odds and ends that made it seem much smaller than her brother's practically empty office. Maybe she should get Gaara to personalize his space a little more?

"So," the Hokage began, pulling Temari's thoughts back to the mission at hand.

"So," Temari said with a nervous grin. She could see that the woman standing behind the Hokage, probably her assistant, was holding in a grin at two women's inability to broach the subject.

Shizune cleared her throat.

"Stronger alliance, huh?" Tsunade asked.

Temari gulped and prepared herself to launch into a speech on the benefits for both nations. Tsunade waved her hand at the girl to indicate that she wasn't finished just yet.

"I'm not going to disagree with you, this is actually a fairly good notion. I just find myself wondering – how the hell did you get the Kazekage to agree to this?"

Temari's face split into a grin. The ice had been broken and the three women all visibly relaxed.

"It was actually Kankuro's idea," Temari admitted. "Gaara – well, he's so solitary. Kankuro thought it would be good for him to have someone and the whole thing just sort of grew from there...once we realized the political implications, Gaara couldn't exactly refuse. He'd do anything for his village."

Tsunade just nodded in understanding. "As long as the Kazekage isn't completely opposed to the idea. I'd like to be able to hold on to some hope that the girl I send may be able to find love. Consigning one of my kunoichi to a loveless life bound to a man who feels nothing for her is not something I want to do."

"I understand your dilemma. I would love it if Gaara could actually have a loving relationship. I think that – maybe with the _right_ girl – there's a chance."

"Which brings us to the real problem," Tsunade sighed. "I don't know much about your brother, but I do know my kunoichi. Let's compare notes."

Temari nodded her head and the two got down to business.

When they took a break to drink some tea a while later Tsunade was beginning to feel this whole thing was a little hopeless.

"My original thought was Hyuuga Hinata," Tsunade admitted. "For purely political reasons. As a Hyuuga the marriage would carry a lot of political clout and since she's not the heir her father wouldn't be likely to object. However, based on what you've told me about your brother-"

"Hinata is far to shy," Temari interjected with a small grin. "I know your kunoichi fairly well, Ino introduced me to most of them and we hang out sometimes when I'm here and Shikamaru's busy."

"Of course," Tsunade said with a slight grin. "Yes. Hinata would be too withdrawn and Gaara would never take the initiative. I can't ask that of Hinata, and I don't think it's what you want for your brother."

Temari shook her head in agreement.

"So we need someone assertive, yet caring and warm. Someone confident but considerate. Someone who's stubborn enough to put up with Gaara's emotionless..." Tsunade trailed off as both women looked at each other in shock.

"Ino," they both said at the same time. It was the obvious conclusion; Ino usually got her way through sheer will-power. If she wanted the Kazekage to fall in love with her he'd have a hard time resisting. Even if it was the emotionless Gaara.

"She might still be hung up on Sasuke though," Tsunade said. She wasn't sure she was ready to sacrifice one of her strongest kunoichi to Suna. On the other hand, Ino definitely wouldn't be afraid of Gaara and was one of the few kunoichi, probably the only in her age group, who wouldn't refuse the idea.

Temari shook her head. "Shikamaru talks about her a lot, they're best friends. The way he tells it, she never really liked Sasuke to begin with."

Tsunade furrowed her brow in thought. Now that was an interesting idea.

"I'd like Shikamaru's opinion on this actually. No one knows Ino as well as he does." She decided not to add that if she sent Ino off without his permission then he would probably resign in protest and Konoha would be screwed without their strategist.

Shizune went and told the guard outside the door to bring Shikamaru to the conference, and the group sat in silence as they waited for his arrival.

When Nara Shikamaru entered Tsunade's office not ten minutes later he was shocked to see his girlfriend sitting across from the Hokage. He'd had no idea that she was going to be in town. His gaze narrowed as he slouched into the room and occupied the vacant chair. Something was going on.

"We are entertaining an interesting request from Sunagakure," Tsunade said to Shikamaru, deciding to get right to the point – well, sort of.

Shikamaru just stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

"It has come to our attention that a stronger alliance between our two villages would be beneficial." Shikamaru nodded but his gaze narrowed further as he tried to figure out where this was going.

"Due to this, we have decided that the Kazekage will marry a leaf kunoichi," Tsunade finished and Shikamaru's eyes widened and he almost fell out of his chair in shock.

Temari suppressed a giggle. Shikamaru spared her a quick glare before redirecting his gaze to the Hokage.

"And I'm here because?" Shikamaru asked, and then his brain finally caught up with the situation and he realized what was going on.

"You want to send Ino, don't you?" he asked, but it wasn't really question.

The women were a bit shocked at how fast he had cottoned on to their plan.

"How-?" Tsunade asked, temporarily forgetting that he was a genius with a 200+ IQ.

"It's the only viable option," he shrugged. "If you weren't going to send her you would be making a stupid decision. Besides, it's the only reason you would have called me here. I know Ino better than probably anyone – except maybe Choji," he conceded.

"So, you think she's the right choice?" Temari asked, curious.

"Yes," Shikamaru said simply.

"What about Sasuke?" Tsunade queried.

Shikamaru snorted. "What _about_ Sasuke?" he asked.

"Doesn't she have a thing for him?" the Hokage asked. After the Uchiha traitor had returned things had quickly slipped back into the age old routine. It didn't seem to matter that years had passed since his fangirls had last seen him, or that he'd betrayed them and his village. Admittedly, he had atoned for those sins, but still.

Shikamaru just raised an eyebrow at her as he held her gaze. "Do you really think Ino would spend all that time chasing a boy who didn't like her back – actually, do you really think that she wouldn't have gotten him already if she really wanted him? You seem to be forgetting that this girl is the master of masks and deception. You really shouldn't forget, you're the one that sends her on all _those_ missions."

The disapproval in his tone was clear. Tsunade had the grace to look a little embarrassed. She might have taken a little bit of an advantage when it came to Ino's absolute dedication to her village, but she was Hokage and she did what she felt was necessary to protect her people. Ino's good looks and natural flair made her perfect for – well, it just meant that compared to some of the other things the Hokage had asked, this might not seem so bad.

Sensing that Tsunade acknowledged his disapproval, Shikamaru continued. "Her and Sasuke have an arrangement. It goes back to the Academy. There's nothing between them and there never was. Despite her outgoing nature, there are things that Ino views as personal. She knows it's in her best interests to not let people see how she really works. Isn't underestimation supposed to be a kunoichi's greatest weapon?"

"Okay, okay, you've made your point," Tsunade grumbled. "So will you-?"

Shikamaru just snorted again. "I'm not going to ask her. I like my eardrums intact thank-you. Besides, you know she puts too much weight in my decisions. If she goes, it's going to be based on a personal decision." The veiled threat was clear. If Tsunade attempted to pressure Ino into this, Shikamaru would make sure she had hell to pay.

"Fine. Make my life difficult," Tsunade grumbled, as she hid a small smile. It always made her feel good to see the strength of the bonds between her ninja, even if sometimes it meant they gave her trouble.

Yamanaka Ino, the kunoichi in question, was spending the day working in her family's flower shop. Something about working with flowers always soothed her, and she liked knowing that she could care for these pretty plants, and arrange them and make them more beautiful.

Beauty was important to Ino. Not because she was vain – well, she was a little vain. Mostly though it was because she knows that no matter how much people deny it, appearances do matter.

The bell on the door rang and she quickly gave the flowers she was arranging a final touch before turning around to greet the customer.

"Hello and welcome to-" the professional tone switched to one of easy going friendliness when she saw who it was. "Oh, hey Sakura. What's up?"

"Hey Ino," Sakura said. She sounded worried and a little sad, so Ino immediately knew that whatever it was, it was important. Ino walked to the door and flipped the sign to 'Closed' as she led Sakura to the back room and they sat down on empty crates.

"'kay Forehead-girl," Ino said. "Spill."

Sakura looked uncomfortable and refused to meet Ino's eyes. Concerned, the blonde moved to sit next to her friend and tentatively placed a hand on her back.

"What is it? You can tell me Sakura," she said.

"I-it's just – probably not any of my business, but I saw-" Sakura begin to fumble her way around the topic she had come to discuss.

Ino waited patiently, not having a clue where this conversation was going.

"I was looking through your medical files," Sakura finally said after a pause to collect herself. "And I noticed that some things were marked as Confidential...I realize now that I shouldn't have looked, but-"

Ino restrained herself from yelling at the pink-haired girl. She hadn't meant to intrude, and if she didn't completely wig out, it might be nice to have someone else to talk to. The only people who knew as of now were the Hokage (obviously) and Shikamaru – and Choji had probably guessed.

"I didn't think – I didn't know – I'm so sorry, Ino," Sakura bawled.

"It's okay forehead," Ino said comfortingly patting her back. "It's okay, seriously."

"But how do you do it?" Sakura asked, wide-eyed. "If Tsunade sent me on a seduction mission – I don't think I could..."

"And that's why you weren't asked," Ino said bluntly. "Look, sometimes it's the only way to get information, or get close enough to kill someone. I'd do anything to protect this village. If you had to, I'm sure you could too, but you don't so don't worry."

"I thought those types of missions were a myth," Sakura admitted.

"They mostly are," Ino shrugged. "It's a last resort, and to be honest there aren't many who can pull them off."

"So does that mean you've..." finding no polite way to phrase her question Sakura's voice trailed off.

"Nope." Ino said, with a bit of a grin on her face. "I'm good, and my mind control jutsu really helps. As soon as they make the mistake of getting me alone, BAM" and here she slammed her fist into the palm of her hand, "they're mine." Abruptly, the grin fell off her face. "I've been really lucky," she admitted.

Sakura grinned weakly back at her. "I – that makes me feel better," she said. "The thought of you sacrificing that – no one should have to do that."

"Well, now that we've got that mess all sorted out, how about you cheer up a bit, hm?" Ino asked cheerily.

"Yeah," Sakura said, wiping her eyes with her arm. The girls walked back to the front of the shop. Before Sakura left she turned back to Ino.

"Ino," she said quietly. The blonde looked at her curiously. "If you ever need to talk to someone, you know, about those things, I'm here for you."

"Thanks Sakura," Ino said softly. "That helps. Shikamaru's not the greatest confidant for that kind of stuff."

"Shikamaru? Seriously?" Sakura asked her small smile spreading to a full-fledged grin.

Ino nodded and the two girls burst into giggles before Sakura raised her hand in a final farewell and left the flower store.

Well, today had certainly been an interesting day, Ino reflected as she closed the shop up for the day and began to head to her small apartment. She hadn't really planned on anyone else finding out about that particular aspect of her life, but she had to admit she was sort of glad Sakura knew. It meant one less person she had to lie to, and although lies are apart of any shinobi's, and to an even greater extent every kunoichi's, life she still hated them.

A few blocks before she reached her apartment complex she heard a familiar voice call out her name. Turning to confirm her suspicions she saw Temari running through the crowded streets. Ino paused as she waited for her fellow blonde to catch up.

"Hey Temari," Ino said with a welcoming smile. "I didn't know you were going to be in town. Shikamaru never said anything, he probably wanted you all to himself," she teased.

Temari flushed a little but shook her head. "No, it was pretty last minute. He had no idea. I had to come talk to the Hokage."

Ino immediately tensed. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Temari laughed a little nervously. "Wrong? Nothing's wrong. We were just – working on strengthening the alliance," she said.

Something seemed out of place to Ino, but she quickly pushed that thought aside. "That's good. Want to grab some dinner with me? I've got some decent leftovers at my apartment."

"I'd love to, but the Hokage wants to see you, it's pretty urgent," Temari said apologetically.

"Fine," Ino said sulkily as her stomach grumbled in protest. The two kunoichi turned to head to the Hokage's office together.

Ino walked into the Hokage's office and was only slightly surprised when Temari followed her in. At least that meant it wasn't one of _those_ missions. As lightly as she had spoken of them around Sakura they still really bothered her. Maybe she'd get to go to Suna for a while? Or maybe Temari would be staying here? Either could be fun. She had to admit that going to Suna might be interesting. She could do with a change of scenery and Temari's brothers were kind of cute. Not that she'd ask out the Kazekage, but Kankuro was fun to hang out with. He was constantly propositioning her and it had become something of a game between them.

The two blondes sat across from the Hokage and waited for her to begin the meeting.

Tsunade had to hold back a sigh when Temari and Ino sat down across from her. A part of her had hoped that maybe Temari wouldn't find Ino until a bit later – then she could have put this off, not that that would have been particularly beneficial.

Mentally taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, Tsunade filled Ino in on the situation.

"First I need to stress that this is a request Ino, not a mission," she began. Confusion filled Ino's blue eyes as she tried to figure out what Tsunade was about to ask her.

"In order to strengthen the ties between Konoha and Suna, it has been decided that we will arrange a marriage between the Kazekage and a leaf kunoichi."

Silence greeted her as Ino stared at her blankly.

"Okay... so what do you need me for?" Ino asked carefully.

Tsunade held in her look of incredulity. For a bright girl Ino sure missed the obvious some times. Then again this wasn't the sort of thing one ever expected to be asked. Tsunade settled for just arching an eyebrow at Ino and waiting for her to catch on. Something's were so much less awkward when explained non-verbally.

Ino stared at her Hokage as she tried to process what she had just been told. An arranged marriage? The poor girl. Those were almost never practiced any more! Who did she say it was again – right, a leaf kunoichi - ...hey, wait a minute.

"WHAT?" Ino shrieked. Fortunately the other occupants of the room knew her well and as soon as they had seen her open her mouth their hands were quickly placed over their ears. Even so, her volume was almost painful. That girl knew how to yell.

Looking at the wincing faces around her Ino drew in a steadying breath, shock still clearly written across her features. Reminding herself that she was in her Hokage's office and now was not the time, Ino promised herself a nice, long ranting session later. Right now she needed to think.

"Would I be correct to assume that you intend to send me?" she asked, playing the role of the professional kunoichi perfectly.

Temari couldn't hold back a slight frown. She didn't want Ino to do this if she was going to be like that about it...

Tsunade read Temari's facial expression and turned her attention to Ino, who was practically standing to attention – well, as much as one can while still remaining seated.

"You aren't being forced to do this Ino. We only want you to do this if you honestly think there's a chance it might work out," Tsunade cautioned.

Silence filled the room as they gave Ino time to think things through. Ino was torn. She bit her bottom lip as her mind quickly started to organize itself around this new thought. If she decided to go through with this, nothing would be the same ever again. On the bright side she would get to go to Suna, just a little bit more permanently then she planned. Also, it would mean that she would be free from the seduction missions she hated. Well, mostly free. She'd have to deal with Gaara but he didn't strike her as the type to take advantage. She wouldn't be able to flirt with other guys anymore, and that was a fun part of her life that she would miss. On the other hand, she would be faced with a bit of a challenge. Did she want to test her skills against the emotionless Gaara of the Desert? It could be fun. And if not her, who?

"Hey, no sweat," she said with a small grin. "Who better for the job? The Kazekage won't know what hit him." Her lips twisted into a small smirk and her voice was once again filled with the confidence everyone had come to associate with Yamanaka Ino.

* * *

AN: Well, that was it. They actually meet in the next chapter so things should start to pick up from here on in. I'm not planning on this story being too long, but I also don't want to rush the feelings. We'll see how it works out.


	3. The Meeting

AN: Okay, the next section in my lovely story is up sooner than I anticipated. I was going to make it a bit longer, but my brain has decided it is better to stop there and leave the rest for the next part...so here you go.

Oh, and I'm moving in 2 weeks so my life is up in shambles right now. I will endeavor to find time to write, but no guarantees on when the next update will be. Just wanted to let you all know in case I go MIA for a bit.

On a final note, keep your eyes open for a story I plan on posting soon (which is a relative term...in this case meaning whenever I have time to sit and actually write it) entitled Come.Sit.Stay. It's a KibaXIno story that's been begging me to write it.

By the way, I still don't own Naruto, and I never will. I'll post that at the beginning of each story, but not every chapter. It just gets annoying.

Chapter Two:

Gaara flicked his gaze toward his reflection in the full-length mirror that made up the closet door of his temporary room in Konoha. He felt a bit odd, almost queasy. Temari had come back to Suna just over a week ago with a self satisfied smirk and announced that everything was arranged. She had only been gone for three days, and assuming that she had spent at least one day with her boyfriend that meant that everything had been resolved rather quickly. Too quickly. He wasn't ready.

When he had finally summoned up enough courage to ask his sister who he was going to marry (even now the question still seemed odd) she had smiled broadly.

"She's perfect," she'd stated. Now Gaara respected his sister's decisions and to have her proclaim a girl was perfect for him was slightly disconcerting. He hadn't really thought any girl could be perfect for him; he'd never even thought he'd be able to have a relationship with anyone. People were too frightened. He sighed; his sister was probably wrong, or just too excited about the whole plan to think clearly.

"Who is it?" Kankuro had interjected, curious.

'Yamanaka Ino," Temari had replied with her smirk still glued to her face.

"The blonde?" Kankuro had asked, sounding awed. "No way! I – ah, I mean way to go Gaara!" Turning to his younger brother with a bit of a leer he added in a quieter voice that Temari wouldn't hear, "That girl is hot! Lucky bastard."

Gaara had felt himself blush a light shade of red, unused to this sort of attention, even from his siblings.

"We're heading down to Konoha so you can meet her in a week," Temari had informed them. "We'll spend a week there so you can get acquainted, and then we'll have the betrothal ceremony. After that we'll head up here for the wedding." Temari paused to smile sadly and wipe a fake tear from her eye. "To think, my baby brother is all grown up and getting married in two weeks."

"What?" Gaara had asked, shocked. "Two weeks, but – that's so soon..."

"Why waste time?" Kankuro had said a trifle lecherously.

Sighing Gaara pulled his mind back to the present. He was on his way to meet Ino and her parents now. He tried to remember something about her, but he hadn't really been the most sociable person on his last visit to the Leaf during the chunin exams. Actually, he'd tried to kill most of her friends. He remembered that she was pretty and that she'd cut her hair in a rather clever attempt at ensnaring that annoying pink-haired girl... He would have killed that one if it hadn't been for Naruto, but man had she ever been whiny. Mind you, Sakura did help save his life and she'd gotten a lot better, so he probably ought to be a little nicer to her . Yes, nice. He had to be nice not just to Ino, but all her friends and family. He really didn't want the woman he was going to be spending the rest of his life with to hate him.

Ino stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room, critically turning from side-to-side as she examined her appearance. This meeting was supposed to be informal, so she was wearing her usual purple outfit – but maybe she should try something a little dressier? No. She needs to be relaxed and comfortable around him, or else he'll never relax around her. Briskly looking herself over one last time she efficiently pulled her long hair up into its usual high pony-tail before exiting her apartment and heading to her parent's house. After picking them up, they would all head over to the Hokage's office to meet the Kazekage and his siblings. Oh, this was going to be so awkward.

Tsunade sat behind her desk, eyeing the three sand ninja nervously standing in front of her.

Temari actually didn't look that nervous, mostly self-satisfied. Her worry only showed through the quick glances she kept sending to Gaara, as if to reassure herself that he was still there and going through with the plan. Kankuro's nervousness was perhaps better interpreted as awkwardness, he had flirted with Ino an awful lot in the past and now she was going to be formally introduced to his younger brother as his future wife...how the hell was he supposed to react to that? As for Gaara, well let's just say that it wasn't often one got to see the Kazekage fidget. His hands would tug on his robe, or reach up to check his hair, and his feet were constantly shifting from side to side. If Tsunade hadn't been just as worried, the sight would have been comical, now it just added to her anxiety.

Finally the door opened to reveal the Yamanaka family. As they stepped into the room Tsunade could tell that Inoichi was not pleased.

She had expected something like this of course; Yamanaka Inoichi had always been very protective of his only child. He didn't like that she had to have an arranged marriage. He didn't like that she was going to have to move to Sunagakure. Most importantly, he didn't like that the man his daughter was marrying was an ex-serial killer who had previously been certifiably insane.

Needless to say his objections were not unfounded. However, since Shukaku's removal Gaara had not killed except when necessary, and getting a few hours of sleep a night had helped with the insanity. Tsunade did not see her request as unreasonable, and since Ino had decided to accept it Inoichi was just going to have to deal with it. Preferably without glaring at the Kazekage like that.

Tsunade, who was acting as the go-between for this marriage immediately decided now would be a good time to make the formal introductions.

She stood up and moved to stand between the two groups, sending a glare at Inoichi on the way. "Kazekage-sama, may I present the Yamanakas. Inoichi, the head of the clan, his wife, and his daughter Ino. Yamanaka-san this is Sabaku no Gaara, Kazekage of the village hidden in the sand, and his siblings Temari and Kankuro." Here Tsunade paused to gently take Ino's hand and tug her forward. "Gaara, your future wife," she said as she inclined her head respectfully. Ino sunk into a bow, and Gaara responded in kind although his bow was not as low as Ino's.

As Ino resumed her upright position she caught Gaara's eyes and both of their cheeks flushed a light red – this was just as awkward as she'd feared.

After a few minutes of polite chatter Ino's mother kindly suggested that Ino take Gaara on a tour of the village since he hadn't been there in a while.

Gaara, after shooting a questioning look at Temari, quietly nodded his agreement and proceeded to the door, which he courteously held open for his fiancé.

As he followed Ino out the door he couldn't help but notice the thumbs up that Kankuro sent his way from behind his back. The corners of Gaara's mouth quirked up into what could possibly pass as a smile before the door closed and Gaara turned to face the blonde kunoichi waiting for him a few steps down the hallway.

She was definitely pretty – okay she was gorgeous. There was no denying that. And her good looks were only accentuated by her cheerful but slightly hesitant smile and general good humour. When she saw that Gaara was ready to proceed she turned and began to walk down the hallway as Gaara followed a few steps behind – there wasn't room for them to walk side-by-side unless they were uncomfortably close. Well, it would be uncomfortable for Gaara, Ino looked like she was used to physical contact.

He watched the way she walked down the hallway curiously. Her walk was more of a seductive sway, but he didn't get the impression she was doing it to intentionally lure him in. It was more like a habit that she no longer noticed. It definitely kept his eyes glued to her frame and he didn't notice they were outside until she turned to face him, a slightly mischievous look on her face.

Ino had been thinking about how she should behave. Should she treat him like she treated everyone else? Or would he prefer her to maintain her distance until they knew each other a bit better. They wouldn't really get to know each other very well before the wedding, she realized – a week was hardly sufficient. That decided her then, besides, if he was going to be married to her he should see what he was getting himself into... and who knows? Maybe being her normal annoying self would get him to open up a bit. It worked on everyone else.

"So Kazekage-sama," she said, her eyes practically dancing, "where do you want to go? Konoha hasn't actually changed all that much these past few years."

"Gaara," he said quietly.

"Huh?" Ino cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Please – call me Gaara," his eyes were focused on the ground as he said this. "If – if we're going to be married it will get really awkward having you always calling me Kazekage-sama."

Ino felt her face heat up. Of course. Geez, what was she thinking? Still, it was nice to know he wanted her to call him by his first name.

"Of course, Gaara," she said with a genuinely warm smile. "Now, where did you want to go?"

Gaara was clueless. The only female he had ever been alone with was his sister and – well, this was an entirely different situation. Really, he had no clue where they should go.

"Wherever you think is best, Ino-san," Gaara said respectfully.

All of a sudden Ino whirled from his side to directly in front of his face. He would have been disconcerted, but her eyes were narrowed in a glare. Anger was an emotion he was used to dealing with and placed him back in his comfort zone. Now, if he could only figure out what she was angry about...

"Gaara," she said and her voice was unexpectedly kind – too kind. "If I'm going to call you Gaara don't you think you ought to call me Ino? After all, don't you think it's a bit odd to go around calling your wife '-san'?"

Gaara gulped. Something about this blonde was intimidating, even if he knew he could easily best her in a fight.

"Sorry – Ino," Gaara said quietly.

"That's okay," she said happily as her mouth curved up into a grin. Wow, Gaara thought, her moods change really fast.

"So Gaara, where do you want to go?" she asked for a third time. All of a sudden her stomach let out an audible growl. Ino looked down in acute embarrassment, her cheeks flushing.

Gaara did his best to hold back a smile, she was pretty cute looking when she blushed. "How about we go get something to eat Ino," he said gently. "I'm pretty hungry and I haven't eaten since we arrived this afternoon."

The look of gratitude on her face when she met his eyes again made him feel special, and important. People weren't usually grateful to him for anything.

"Perfect," she said. "Come on, I know the perfect place." With that she grabbed his arm and started leading him down the street.

Ino hadn't really been thinking when she had latched onto the Kazekage's – Gaara's arm. One of her hands held his while her other arm was wrapped around his arm. Her hand holding his hand wasn't really holding his hand though – it was holding sand. Of course, she thought. His sand armor – it was only to be expected. Even with his gourd on his back he still needed his armor for protection, especially in another village, even if they were allies. Still, a part of her wished that that extra barrier wasn't there. It was like a wall, keeping her away.

Gaara was completely thrown when Ino had snatched up his hand and arm. He could still feel the pressure of her grasp, even if he couldn't actually feel her due to his sand armor. When she held his arm and hand like that she was so close to him. It made him uncomfortable and he instinctively tried to pull his arm away.

Ino felt him try to tug his arm away and subtly tightened her grip. If he was gong to be her husband he could hold her hand when they walked down the street! She turned her head and arched an eyebrow at him with a look that was half plea and half challenge. Gaara, who had no clue how to deal with girls after all, was unable to think of a proper response and merely conceded his arm to the kunoichi's grasp as she led him down the street.

The walk was peaceful and the night was warm and beautiful. The tranquility of the evening had Gaara relaxing in spite of the physical closeness of the blonde girl. At least, he was beginning to relax – until the peace was brutally shattered.

"GAARA!" a loud voice exclaimed from behind them.

Ino and Gaara stopped and turned only to see that three of their fellow shinobi had just returned from a mission; Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. Of course, it had been Naruto whose shout had pierced the air and drew their attention.

"Hey Gaara!" Naruto called again as they drew closer. "Who's the gir..." Naruto's voice trailed off as he recognized Ino wrapped around Gaara's arm. His dumb-founded gaze moved back and forth between Ino, Sasuke, and Gaara.

Sasuke, in his typical speechless manner shot Ino a look that said 'huh?'

Ino responded in kind with a slight shake of her head that clearly meant 'long story, I'll explain later.'

Sakura just stood there in shock, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. It wasn't until Ino noted this out loud that Sakura was able to (somewhat) recover her senses. What was with Ino? When she had left on her mission she and Ino had had another of their friendly fights over Sasuke, and now she was clinging to the Kazekage like he was her boyfriend? She'd only been gone a week, and she hadn't heard about the Kazekage coming, so he couldn't have been here that long...

"Gaara, I didn't know you were coming! How long have you been here?" Naruto asked. He in no way understood what was going on between Ino and Gaara, but he'd caught a hint of desperate pleading in Gaara's eyes and decided not to comment. He'd find out later.

"We arrived early this afternoon," Gaara said.

Now Sakura was really confused. He'd only just gotten here? What the hell was going on between those two?

"Gaara and I were just going to grab some dinner, if you wanted to join us?" Ino asked politely. "That is, if Gaara doesn't mind?" she hastily added, looking at the red-head for approval.

Since when did Ino wait for anyone's approval on anything?

Gaara nodded in agreement and Ino barely managed to stop herself from sighing in relief. Having others there might make everything less awkward.

* * *

Ok, so it was a bit shorter than last time, but not by much.

Remember that both Gaara and Ino _want_ to fall in love, they're just scared, and a bit embarrassed. No worries though, it's not going to be over for a while yet. My brain has too much in store for them.

* * *


	4. The 'Date'

AN: Well, here is my longest update yet. I'm going to warn you all about the distinct lack of GaaIno interactions. It's more about them individually and how they feel about the match. It also establishes their relationships with others in the story especially with regards to Ino. On that note, I don't dislike Tenten, her personality just clashes with Ino in this story. It's not really Tenten 'bashing' per say, but they don't get on, ok?

I hope you enjoy it - it was originally going to be two separate chapters but I felt the second one was too short so you're getting it all at once. Reviews are greatly appreciated - your feedback is what keeps me motivated to write!

On a side note, my KibaIno fic is progressing nicely, but I'm trying to keep my main focus on this story. It's becoming a bit difficult as a lovely idea for a NaruIno epic is brewing in my mind and trying to take over. Once I get all the kinks in that story sorted out I can start writing it and boy am I excited.

Enough of me, I know you all just really want to read the story - so here you go.

Chapter Three:

As the now enlarged group headed towards the restaurant, Ino maintained her grip on Gaara's arm. She could tell that Sakura wanted to talk to her, but she only had a week to get to know this silent man before she had to marry him and she planned on using it. Besides, Ino was used to physical contact, it was an essential part of her existence and reminded her she was there and connected to everybody else. Gaara was going to have to get used to it, at least from her.

When they reached the restaurant the waitress directed them to a booth and they slipped in, Ino and Gaara on one side and the three members of team seven on the other. After they'd placed their orders, an awkward silence fell on the table. Okay, so maybe more people won't get rid of the awkwardness, Ino thought with a sigh.

Naruto, ever the blunt one, cracked first. "Are you two – umm – dating?" he asked suddenly.

Gaara and Ino looked at each other. What to say, what to say? Catching Gaara's bewildered and slightly panicked expression Ino sent him a reassuring smile and turned back to the other three to answer their question.

"No," Ino said.

"But – then – why?" Naruto spluttered, completely lost and still wondering why Ino hadn't jumped on Sasuke.

"We're getting married. Speaking of which forehead, you're gonna be one of my bridesmaids, k?" Ino said, dumping the information on them without any warning.

Silence once again reigned, but this wasn't an awkward silence. No, it was a silence of completely shocked stupor. Apparently, no one was sure how to respond to that.

Suddenly, Naruto burst out laughing. "Ha, ha, ha, you almost had me there Ino. That was a good one! And I would know – I am the prankster king. Ha!"

Sakura looked relieved and managed a grin, but Sasuke simply looked at the two wonderingly.

Although both Gaara and Ino could perfectly understand why this could easily be mistaken as a joke, they couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Did they think they weren't good enough for their spouse-to-be?

This time it was Gaara who spoke. "Naruto, there is no joke. Ino and I are getting married at the end of the week."

Naruto abruptly stopped laughing and stared wide-eyed at his friend.

"Why?" he asked.

Ino resisted the urge to smack his head, and was happy when Sakura fulfilled her unexpressed desire.

"Ow!" Naruto yowled. "What was that for Sakura-chan?"

"For being an idiot," Sakura said simply. "Congratulations, you two," she said with a small smile and a look that let Ino know she expected the full story later.

Suffice it to say dinner passed slowly, filled with awkward small talk and glances. When they were finally ready to leave they all stood at the door before quietly saying good bye as they went their separate ways.

"See you tomorrow, Ino!" Sakura called over her shoulder, not so subtly reminding Ino that she still owed the pink-haired girl the whole story.

"Yep," Ino responded as she proceeded to walk towards her apartment.

Ino was a skilled kunoichi. She had graduated top of her class back in the Academy and was an expert in stealth missions. So even if she wasn't the Hokage's prize pupil, like Sakura, the idiot following her home really ought to know better. After walking a few blocks and trying to ignore the itching feeling at the back of her neck caused by the mysterious stalker's gaze, she snapped.

Stopping in the middle of the street she turned and fixed her gaze on the spot where she sensed the other's presence.

"What do you want?" she asked exasperated.

She was slightly surprised to see Sasuke jump out of the tree, but she greeted him with a small smile.

"Hn," Sasuke said as he walked up to her and they began to continue down the street together.

Ino just rolled her eyes. "What's up Sasuke?" she questioned.

"I was just wondering what was really up with you and Gaara," Sasuke said. "You can't really expect me to believe you two just met up in the streets when he arrived this afternoon and decided to get hitched."

Ino just giggled at this – Sasuke always had brought out her fangirl behaviour.

"Don't be stupid," she said, reverting back to her normal self. "Of course that's not what happened."

Sasuke remained silent, and Ino knew from years of interpretation that he really wanted her to tell him what was going on.

So she told him about Tsunade's request and about the arranged marriage. Sasuke listened quietly – that was one of his good points, he'd always been a good listener. When Ino was finished with her story, complete with a full account of her worries about Gaara, Sasuke had placed a comforting arm around her shoulder.

This startled Ino out of her monologue/reverie and she turned to look at him with a little shock. Sasuke had never really been good with the whole touchy-feely thing. However, Sasuke had also known Ino for years and knew that even if he didn't like it, she needed it. As surprising as it may seem to some, he considered the loud blonde girl one of his few close friends.

"Guess that means you were the first to go," he said with a slightly sad smile. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Psh, you'll be fine," Ino said, lightly slapping his arm. "It's about time you found someone and settled down anyway. You're the one who always spouts all the 'restore the clan' crap."

The Uchiha pouted a little at this. "You're so cold, Ino."

Ino just grinned.

Years ago, back at the Academy, Ino had approached the solitary Uchiha survivor with an idea. Ino had told him (it hadn't been a request, she'd told him straight out what they were going to do – she'd always been brash and determined) that she was going to become his number one fangirl. A confused Uchiha hadn't known how to respond, and had just begun to back cautiously away from the pretty but insane blonde girl in front of him when she'd finished with her explanation. She would pretend to be obsessed with him, and in doing so would severely limit the number of girls who bothered him – not many were willing to mess with Ino, even back then. Those who weren't deterred would at least have to acknowledge significant competition, and since he was to be slightly nicer to Ino (again, this was an order) they would never really be able to entertain serious hopes of getting him. This would limit their overall annoyingness and the strength of their pursuit of him, and they would accept from the beginning that they would have to be content with their fantasies and staring.

While Sasuke could see the logic behind her plan, and the benefit to him, he still hadn't been sure why she would do this.

"I'm not going to date you," he had replied coldly.

Ino had laughed at him. No girl had ever laughed at him before. "I don't want to date you," she'd said, trying to contain her giggles. "If the guys think I'm completely obsessed with you, they'll leave me alone. And the one's who still try will at least be determined and maybe a little more worth my time."

Sasuke had thought for a moment, before agreeing. Despite its flaws, their plan had worked surprisingly well.

They'd agreed that as soon as the other found someone the deal would end. Apparently, that day was now. Over the years they had grown quite comfortable in each other's presence and even had several actual conversations. Sasuke felt a small sense of loss whirling in his stomach as he realized that everything between them now had to change. It wasn't that he harbored any secret feelings for the blonde girl, she'd just become a fixed part of his life it would be weird to do without. And now his fangirls would probably become rabid.

"I think you'll be good for him," Sasuke said into the silence as they reached Ino's apartment.

"I don't know," Ino said a trifle wistfully. "I mean, we hardly know each other, and it's practically impossible to get to know someone under circumstances like this. We feel too awkward around each other."

"Well, if anyone can reach him, it's you," Sasuke said. "I guess this is good-bye."

Ino snorted in an extremely unladylike manner, "Don't be so dramatic, I'm getting married, not dying."

"You're moving," Sasuke reminded her.

"Oh yeah," Ino said her head tilted as she remembered. "You're coming to the wedding," she added after a minute of staring at nothing.

As usual in their relationship, she didn't give him a choice. Sasuke knew he would go – the only time he hadn't listened to her and instead done what he thought was best he'd wound up in the clutches of a creepy snake man who wanted to take over his body. He'd learned his lesson.

"See you around," Ino said with a small smile before she enveloped Sasuke in a tight hug. When she went to pull away, he didn't let her go.

"What's this?" she asked teasingly. "The Uchiha actually wants physical contact?"

Sasuke ignored her. "Did I ever say thank-you?" he asked her.

"Huh?" she replied, confused. She pushed herself away from him just enough so that she could meet his gaze.

"For being there. All the time. Even when I didn't want you to be..." he said, half-joking, half-serious.

"No," she said with a gentle smile. "You never did."

"Well, thank-you. For being there. Even when I didn't want you to be – I needed it, even though I didn't admit it."

"I know," Ino said. "But it's good to know you know it too. And it's nice to hear – sometimes a girl can't help but wonder if she's just being annoying."

"Oh, you were definitely annoying," Sasuke said with a hint of something in his voice that might have been a chuckle. "But annoying works for you."

"Bye Sasuke," Ino said, pulling him into one more tight hug before stepping back. This time he released her.

"Bye Ino," Sasuke said. "Good luck with Gaara. I actually think that might work out for you two."

"Thank-you," she said, and then turned and disappeared inside.

When Gaara arrived back at the small house that he and his siblings stayed in while in Konoha he was greeted by his anxious brother and sister at the door.

"How'd it go?" Temari asked.

Gaara thought about it for a minute before answering, "Fine."

"Just fine?" Kankuro asked. "Come on little brother, you've been alone with an extremely hot girl for the past two hours, and your time was just fine?"

"We weren't alone," was all Gaara said in response. He actually still wasn't certain if he was happy about that or not. On the one hand, it had been great seeing Naruto. On the other, he hadn't really gotten to learn anything about the strange girl who hadn't shied away from him. All well. Gaara wasn't the type to fret over things like that, and he pushed aside his feelings and headed towards his room.

"Wait just a minute," Temari said authoritatively, grabbing her younger brother's shoulders and spinning him around.

"I want the whole story from you. Now sit," she said, pushing him towards the couch. She sat down on the chair across from him and Kankuro, who was curious to say the least, sat down on the sofa next to the red head.

"Spill," Temari commanded.

"She was hungry so we went out to eat. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura joined us," he said before standing up to leave again.

A frustrated Temari let out a noise that sounded freakishly like a growl before borrowing a line from her boyfriend. "Troublesome," she mumbled, before turning her focus back on her youngest brother.

"We're not done yet," she warned, and Gaara obediently resumed his seat. What did they want? He'd told them everything.

Kankuro just laughed. "Temari, he's a guy, not a gossiping kunoichi. That's the best you're going to get. If I were you I'd just go ask Ino for the details."

Temari's eyes brightened at the idea – she'd forgotten that the girl was one of her best friends.

Gaara's eyes widened a bit at the realization, and Temari noticed.

"What is it little brother?" she asked sweetly.

"I – just – you-"

Kankuro saved Gaara from having to answer. "He's just realized that you two are going to gang up on him and is wondering where to hide," he said dismissively. "So Gaara, how far did you get?"

Gaara looked at him, confusion in his eyes.

"I mean you kissed her goodnight at least, right?" Kankuro clarified.

Temari went from glaring at Kankuro to eyeing Gaara curiously.

Gaara's face matched the colour of his hair. "No," he said. He was pretty sure that she wouldn't have wanted that. "Anyways, there were other people there."

"Other people? You mean you didn't walk her home after?" Temari asked, shocked.

"No. Should I have?" Gaara asked, completely bewildered.

Kankuro smacked his forehead at his brother's ignorance. "Yes Gaara, you should have."

"Why? She's a kunoichi, I'm sure she can take care of herself. Besides, I'm pretty sure Sasuke followed her home."

"That's not the point – wait, you let some other guy walk her home?" Kankuro asked, shocked.

"Gaara," Temari interjected, adopting her big sister voice. "You always offer to walk a girl home after a date. It's not because she's weak, it's a way of showing her that you care and want to spend more time with her."

Gaara's brow furrowed in thought. "But I didn't want to spend more time with her. It was awkward, and she probably would have grabbed my hand again."

At this both of his older siblings found that they couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing. Gaara really was completely clueless.

"That's Ino for you," Temari said as her laughter died down to a manageable level. "I think I'm going to go talk to her."

"Find out what that other guy was doing following her home too!" Kankuro called after her before she left the room.

Temari raised her hand in acknowledgement and proceeded towards Ino's apartment. She knew the girl would still be awake; Ino had always been a night owl.

Kankuro remained seated. He had decided that his brother needed a bit of a talking to.

"So Gaara, details please," he began.

"What do you want to know?" asked a confused Gaara.

"Well how about you tell me what she said to you?" Kankuro decided.

"She called me Kazekage-sama, I asked her not to," Gaara began, and Kankuro nodded his agreement. "When I called her Ino-san she got all weird – and scary."

Kankuro raised an eyebrow. This was new, he'd never heard his brother describe anyone as scary before – except when he agreed with Kankuro about Temari.

"She kept asking me what I wanted to do, and I didn't know what to say...and then her stomach grumbled so I asked if she wanted to go get dinner," he concluded. "I was hungry too," he added as an afterthought.

"When did she grab your hand?" Kankuro asked.

"As we started walking to dinner."

"And you didn't like it?" Kankuro wondered out loud. He'd seen Ino's version of holding hands and he certainly wouldn't have complained at having the blonde wrapped around him like that.

Gaara flushed a bright red. "It – it was uncomfortable. It made me feel funny."

"Funny how?" Kankuro asked. He had made it his personal mission to help Gaara understand feelings. Sure, he was a bit of a pervert, but he was a better teacher than Temari. Her lessons were always accompanied by pain, and she didn't understand how guys saw things. Gaara was his little brother and needed his help, so Kankuro was going to do his best.

"I felt kind of hot, and my stomach felt all jumpy. Kind of like I was sick – but nicer," Gaara decided.

Kankuro had to hold in his laugh – well, he tried to. He wound up snorting as his hands came flying up to cover his mouth. Finally he settled for suffocating himself with a pillow. Gaara remained impassive, used to his brother's antics.

"Gaara, I hate to break it to you, but that's normal. Ino's a gorgeous girl, it's natural for you to feel attracted to her."

"But it felt weird," Gaara whined.

"The only weird thing is that you're twenty and this is the first time you've felt like that," Kankuro mumbled, but Gaara heard.

"Just because you're a pervert-" Gaara said pointedly.

"Hey-" Kankuro interrupted. "This has nothing to do with me being a bit perverted!"

Gaara scoffed.

"Seriously. It's okay to feel that around attractive girls. If it was an ugly girl I'd sit you down and give you a talking to, but right now I just want to ask you one question."

"What?" Gaara sighed, resigned. Maybe after this his brother would leave him alone.

"Did you like it?" he asked with a bit of a leer.

"Like what?"

"The feeling. Her holding your hand. Having all of her attention focused completely on you. Did you like it?"

Gaara looked at the ground, thinking.

"Didn't you feel a bit sad when the others joined and she stopped giving you one hundred percent of her attention?"

The Kazekage's face flushed for what was probably the hundredth time that evening.

"Yes," was all he said.

"Yes what?" Kankuro prodded.

"Yes, I was a bit upset when the others joined. Yes, I liked it. Yes."

Kankuro's grin should have cracked his face apart. "Well then," he said. "This should be interesting."

When Ino closed her apartment door behind her she collapsed on the floor with relief. Sure, talking to Sasuke had given her a bit of reassurance, but she really didn't think he was right. She'd never met someone who responded as little as Gaara before. And at the end of the night, he'd left. Well, he'd said good-bye but his hasty retreat had made it plain that he wanted to be anywhere but where he was – with her.

Ino let out a loud groan as she went to change for bed. This was going to be a disaster.

That was why when Temari knocked on her door a while later she was curled up on her couch, wrapped in a blanket and eating a tub of chocolate ice cream while watching chick flicks.

Temari took one look at Ino's disheveled state and snorted. Barging into the mindwalker's living room she'd turned off the television and sat on the chair next to Ino's couch.

"You look worse than he does," the sand kunoichi said in her usual blunt manner.

"Thanks loads," Ino said pathetically, hitting the back of her head continuously against the back of the couch she was seated on in despair.

"You really disgruntled him," Temari said, unable to hold back a grin at the other girl's antics.

Ino stopped banging her head against the couch and met Temari's gaze. "Temari, you're really not helping. He's your brother damn it! You were supposed to pick a girl he could like!"

Temari waited patiently for Ino to calm down – there really was no talking to her otherwise.

After a few minutes of quietly seething and fuming Ino drew a deep breath and forcibly calmed herself down.

"What did you want, Temari?" she asked a bit tiredly.

"I just wanted to let you know you disgruntled him," Temari said, grinning again.

"And again, I'm going to tell you that's not helpful. I already know he doesn't like being around me," Ino moaned.

"I don't think you understand," Temari said, her grin positively devilish. "Do you know how hard it is to faze Gaara? You were perfect!"

"I don't know what deluded world you live in," Ino snapped, "but I was looking forward to the notion that my husband might maybe possibly like me. You telling me he's uncomfortable around me and that he's perfectly fine with everyone else IS NOT HELPING!"

Temari winced at Ino's volume.

Waiting a few more minutes for Ino to collect herself – again – she patiently explained the situation to Ino.

"Ino, he's disgruntled around you because you make him feel things – that's good. It means there's hope."

Ino peeked her head out from behind the pillow she'd been burying it in. Hope sparkled brightly in her eyes and Temari knew that this exuberant and lively girl was exactly what Gaara needed. If he could win her love she'd give him everything, and if she won his she'd become the absolute centre of his universe. This match was perfect.

"Really?" Ino squeaked.

"Yes. Now tell me everything," she demanded. That was all Ino needed to regale the older kunoichi with the full-on version of the story Temari had been dying to hear. The two gossiped late into the night, falling asleep on the sofas as they discussed Gaara and Shikamaru. It really was perfect, being friends with someone so close to their boyfriend/fiancé.

Temari left the next morning, she was eager to see what Kankuro had wormed out of Gaara. Ino sat in her apartment, bored out of her mind until she was bit with the cleaning bug and started cleaning up her already neat apartment. Anyone who knew Ino would tell you that she was a bit of a perfectionist – and if she wasn't there they might go so far as to say "obsessive compulsive perfectionist freak" as Kiba had so politely put it after one of their first missions together. And there was truth in his statement – Ino always wanted everything at its best, and everything included her looks, her skills, her apartment, and everyone around her. So she annoyed everyone half to death with her demands, but in the end they benefited.

She was scrubbing happily away at her kitchen floor while humming some made-up tune when she was interrupted by another visitor to her apartment. Placing the bucket filled with warm water on the counter and the rag in the sink she made her way to the door while wiping her hands on her apron.

It was Sakura. She, of course, wanted to know what the hell was going on. Ino sighed internally – was she going to have to tell everyone individually? How come no one was bugging Gaara instead – wait a second, Naruto probably was, seeing as how he's so impatient and he hadn't come by to see her yet.

Sakura sat at Ino's kitchen table while Ino pulled some cookies she'd made earlier that week out of a cupboard and put them in front of Sakura with a glass of milk. Yes, Ino could cook – she was probably one of the few kunoichi who had bothered learning that skill. Now that she thought about it that did make her more prepared for marriage then any of the other kunoichi, but really, what else was she supposed to do with a shinobi like Choji on her team?

Ino had filled Sakura in on the whole arranged marriage thing and Sakura was once again in awe of her childhood friend. Ino was asked to do so many things – a part of Sakura was jealous for a moment, before she remembered that there was no way in hell she would have wanted to be asked to do many of the things Ino had done. The blonde girl was strong in a way complete beyond Sakura's physical strength.

"You really want me to be your bridesmaid?" Sakura asked.

"Of course," Ino smiled, you're one of my best friends. I have to ask Hinata, Kurenai, and Anko still – Temari agreed last night."

"Anko?" Sakura asked confused. "That's right, she trained you for your jounin exam, didn't she?"

"Yeah," Ino nodded, agreeing. "She was a great role model."

"What about Tenten? She's the only one from our group you didn't ask- won't that make her feel left out?" Sakura asked.

"Good," Ino said. Something flashed in her eyes that reminded Sakura why it was a bad idea to tick Ino off.

"What did she do?" Sakura asked confused. She knew Ino and Tenten had never been close, but she had no idea that there was bad blood between them.

"She said I behaved in a matter ill-befitting a kunoichi," Ino sneered. "Apparently, bothering to look pretty is a sin in her book. Must be because she's so ugly herself."

Sakura gulped. She knew Ino didn't think Tenten was ugly, she'd actually complimented the girl a few times while discussing fashion and things with Sakura. Tenten must have really ticked her off.

"Apparently," Ino continued, her sneer still present, "I spend all my time obsessing over my looks and guys and I'm too weak to be taken seriously. Hmph. Obsessing over looks and guys is _part_ of being a kunoichi for me, stupid twit," by now Ino's voice had died down to a mumble, so Sakura knew she was mostly talking to herself.

Ino raised her head and met Sakura's gaze, her eyes now sparkling with mischief. "Oh, who cares what she said – she was just jealous," Ino said. She then proceeded to answer Sakura's unspoken question. "The girl's in love with Hyuuga Neji, but she's completely inept when it comes to flirting or anything. She's mad because _I_ got him to kiss me."

Sakura's eyes widened. Ino and Neji – when? "What?" Sakura asked.

"It was nothing like that. We were on a mission, I needed to draw attention to myself, and I certainly wasn't going to use Lee," Ino shuddered at the thought. "So I started coming onto Neji. I'd told him before hand so he went along with it – Tenten didn't know though," she said with a smirk. "I think what killed her most was the fact that he obviously enjoyed it."

Sakura just shook her head at her best friend's antics. Typical Ino.

"Anyways, we haven't gotten on to well since – and I don't really want her to be my bridesmaid. I'm pretty sure she isn't going to care, so moving on please?"

And with that the two kunoichi moved on to discuss the wedding. Hey, they are girls after all.

Gaara was sitting at a desk in his room quietly going over some paper work he'd brought when his tranquility was interrupted by a loud knock. He sighed and went to answer the door, Kankuro was out being Kankuro and Temari was in the shower. He opened the door only to be met with blonde hair and blue eyes. Leaving the door open he turned and walked back to his temporary office.

"Come in, Naruto," he called back to his visitor.

"Hey Gaara!" the hyperactive shinobi shouted, bounding in and following Gaara after closing the door behind himself. "What's up?"

"Work," Gaara said.

Naruto crinkled his nose in disgust. "You know, seeing you makes me wonder why I want to be Hokage so badly," he sighed. Then his normal grin reclaimed his face, "Hey, did I tell you that Tsunade officially named me as her successor?"

"Yes. In the letter you sent me last year."

"Oh, right," Naruto was silent for a moment.

"So..." he said casually. "What's up with you and Ino?"

"We're getting married."

"Yeah, you said that last night. What I'm wondering is _why_? I mean, don't get me wrong, Ino's great and everything – but still. She's so loud and bossy!"

Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow at the loud part.

"To strengthen Suna's alliance with Konoha," he said simply.

Naruto had to think for a minute to process that.

"Oh, it's an arranged marriage," he said suddenly. "So why did you pick her?"

"I didn't, Temari and Tsunade did."

"Oh. I wonder why... – how's it working out for you?"

It was Gaara's turn to think for a moment. He remembered his discussion with Kankuro the night before and a trace of red found its way to his cheeks.

"I think it's going well..." he said quietly.

Naruto saw the red that emerged on his friend's cheeks and suppressed the urge to whistle. This was new; he'd never seen Gaara blush. Maybe he ought to give Ino more credit. Actually, now that he thought about it Ino's craziness might balance out Gaara's craziness – in the sense that they were both opposite kinds of crazy. After all, people always said he and Ino were a lot alike, even aside from the physical similarities, and he and Gaara were close friends.

Naruto settled for a smirk and slapped his red-haired friend on the back. "Good to hear," he said.

The rest of the week passed by in a blur for everyone who was to be involved in the ceremonies – and even more so for the couple themselves. They went on a few walks around the village together, and attended a number of formal occasions, but they never had any time to actually get to know each other. The night before the group was to leave for Sunagakure they both attended their betrothal dinner. Even though they sat next to each other for the entire evening they only exchanged a few words, and they were all polite formalities.

Ino lay in her bed and the realization that this was her last night in this room hit her. She suppressed the urge to cry – Yamanaka Ino did not cry – but this room was her sanctuary, her place of refuge. She wouldn't have her own room anymore – after they arrived in Sunagakure she would be married to Gaara. The emotions swirling around in Ino were so complex and confusing that she found herself breaking down and sobbing into her pillow. That's how her mother found her the next morning, face buried in a wet pillow and her eyes still red. Sweeping her daughter up into a wordless hug the two women made sure everything was in order for their departure later that morning.

* * *

So...yes. Anyways, from now on the story is going to focus more on the interactions between the two - promise. And if all goes as planned, there will be a wedding in the next chapter. After all, who doesn't love a wedding...mmmm, cake.


	5. The Wedding

AN: OK, here is a little more GaaraxIno interaction, since I promised it to you all. Just a head's up. I move this Friday and I don't know how long its going to take for everything to settle down etc. so I'll be able to write again. So it might be a week or two before the next chapter (then again it might not). Anyways, here is the wedding, hope you enjoy!

Chapter Four:

The three day trip to Suna went by smoothly. With the amount of shinobi attending the wedding no one was idiotic enough to actually attack the large group. Tsunade had said her farewells to Ino at the gate – she couldn't leave Konoha vulnerable with her absence. Shikamaru, Choji, her mother and father, Hinata and Neji, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura all accompanied Ino on her journey – Anko had been unable to make it as she was out on a mission. Kurenai came as well, in Asuma-sensei's stead and as one of the bridesmaids.

The night they arrived in Suna the kunoichi threw a last minute bridal shower for Ino at the hotel, while Kankuro and Naruto hosted a bachelor party of sorts for the Kazekage.

Ino was enjoying herself, and relaxed completely for the first time in three days among the company of all her female friends. The journey hadn't been difficult physically, but mentally it had troubled her quite a bit. She was leaving her home and her family, and she was still no closer to the man she was going to marry. She'd barely even caught a glimpse of Gaara during the trip.

"Hey Ino, can we see your wedding dress?" Hinata asked. She had overcome her constant stuttering a few years back.

Ino grinned. Now that was one thing she _was_ excited about. "Nope," she said. "You're going to have to wait until tomorrow like everyone else."

She was quite thrilled with her dress; she'd stumbled across it one evening with Temari and Sakura. The only other person to have seen it so far was her mother.

"Aw, Ino, you're no fun," Kurenai grumbled, her son seated on her lap. "I really wanted to see it."

"And you will – tomorrow," Ino said with a slightly devious grin. "Besides, I need _something_ to look forward to tomorrow," she mumbled to herself.

The other's heard her, or at least caught the gist of it. In hopes of helping Ino relax they moved the conversation away from wedding related topics and gossiped happily about other things while filling themselves with chocolate fondue and fruit.

The male shinobi's evening was much more awkward. Unlike the girls, they were not all friends. In fact, some of them didn't get along at all, so it was a fairly quiet affair in Kankuro's living room, with beer and the television turned on to some sparring competition. Naruto spent his time running back and forth between Gaara, the man of the hour, and Sasuke, who didn't really get along with anyone else there. Kankuro remained glued to Gaara's side the whole evening, and Gaara spent the entire time desperately trying to both listen to and ignore the advice that Kankuro was giving him.

Back at the hotel, the girl's were winding down for the evening. Although slightly reluctant to broach the subject of Ino's wedding, they had a gift for her.

Temari presented Ino with the beautifully wrapped present. "It's from all of us," she said with a smile. "Kankuro even came to help pick it out."

Ino raised an eyebrow, her happy smile gaining a hint of wariness.

"He's got really good taste," Temari defended, and Sakura, Kurenai, and Hinata backed her up with fervent nods.

Ino gently unwrapped the present, and blushed lightly when she saw what was in the box.

"It's beautiful," she gasped. She reached in and pulled out a blue silk night dress of sorts. It was modest and covered her well, but looking at the design she could tell that it was fitted and would mold itself to her body perfectly.

The implications of the gift were obvious, but it was a wonderful and thoughtful gift. Truth be told, Ino had been wondering how to approach her first night of married life and what exactly was expected of her, and this night dress was perfect – not too bold and not too shy.

After the gift had been admired, the girls turned in for the night. After all, tomorrow was the big day, and they all (especially Ino) needed to be well-rested.

The following morning found Gaara pacing back and forth in the living room of Kankuro's home. The other guests had gone to wherever they were staying at various points during the night, but Gaara had crashed at his brother's house. It was six o'clock in the morning, which meant that the wedding ceremony was due to start in four hours. Suffice it to say, Gaara was beside himself. Some part of him couldn't help but worry that something would go wrong, or Ino would realize that she'd made some mistake and leave. Maybe the Akatsuki would attack? All Gaara knew was that things never went right for him, and so this, potentially one of the most important days in his life, would probably not be an exception.

Gaara couldn't take it anymore. He hadn't been able to relax at all the previous night. He resolutely stopped his pacing and pounded on his older brother's bedroom door.

An angry Kankuro stumbled out of bed and prepared himself to kill whoever was disrupting his sleep. He was _not _a morning person. However, the look of complete panic on Gaara's face made him change his mind, and he grudgingly got up to keep his little brother company.

The girls, of course, had already been up for over an hour, and were busy with last minute wedding preparations and getting dressed. Ino was locked in her room, having just emerged from the shower and was now drying her hair. Kurenai and Temari, both of whom were already ready, were helping her. Sakura was dealing with any last minute wedding glitches and threatening people left and right to make sure things would go off without a hitch. It was times like this that she really resembled her teacher Tsunade, and people went out of their way to make sure that things would go smoothly so as to avoid her terrifying wrath.

It was nine forty-five am and everyone was seated, waiting for the ceremony to start. Since this was the wedding of the Kazekage, the designated area (it was an outdoor wedding) was packed. If one looked closely, they could even see a group of Gaara's fangirls seated about half-way back, some whispering maliciously to each other while others were bawling their eyes out.

Everyone was waiting for the ceremony to start, eager to see the bride many of them had never met.

Finally ten o'clock rolled around. The music began and an anxious Gaara was waiting at the altar in his Kazekage robes, his brother standing right behind him and to his side.

The music started to play and the procession of bridesmaids began to slowly make their way down the aisle. Finally, the bride entered.

Ino's golden hair was partly up, with curled tendrils coming down to angelically frame her face. A small tiara was perched on top of her head holding her veil that reached down to her chin in the front and to her waist in the back. Her white dress had a tightly fitted bodice that bared her arms and shoulders, but she wore opera length gloves to accompany it. The skirt of the dress gave the illusion of fullness while swaying and clinging enticingly with her every step. Everyone stared at her in awe; even the fangirls stopped making a racket. Most importantly, Gaara's eyes widened in shock and amazement when he saw her and when their eyes met both their faces flushed a becoming shade of red. Kankuro elbowed his brother in the back to remind him to breathe as Ino continued down the aisle, clutching her bouquet of dark purple and blue flowers that was scattered with hints of red that contrasted beautifully.

When Ino finally reached the altar and was passed off to Gaara by her father after she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, the ceremony progressed. They exchanged their vows and their rings and were declared man and wife.

"You may now kiss the bride," the old priest said. The young couple turned to each other nervously and stared for a moment. Ino glanced over Gaara's shoulder into the audience and noticed that the priest's announcement had shocked Gaara's fangirls back into their normal behaviour. Ino hid a grin – she knew how to deal with them. Gaara was _her_ husband now, and while she wasn't quite sure what to make of that she certainly wasn't going to tolerate any obsessed fangirls.

Waiting patiently for Gaara to build up the courage to kiss her, she quickly built up her own courage for what she was about to do. She wanted this anyway, so the fact that those brats could see it was sort of an added bonus.

Gaara hesitatingly drew closer to her and lifted up her veil, his eyes asking her if this was okay. Ino smiled at him and moved in a little closer, encouraging him to go for it. Gaara drew in a deep breath and aimed his lips for hers in what he obviously intended to be a quick peck. It was his first time kissing a girl and he was nervous.

Ino, skilled as she was in this particular area, was prepared for this and when his lips touched hers she pushed herself a little bit closer to him and moved her lips against his in a way that made it next to impossible for him to pull away. She wrapped her arms around his neck to draw him closer, and his eyes slowly fluttered shut as if by their own accord. He still wasn't responding, but he wasn't pulling away either, so Ino pushed herself even more against him and his body finally took control. His hands rested gently against her hips, as if he was afraid he would break her, and his lips began to move with hers. An internally smirking Ino couldn't resist peeking an eye open to look at the fangirls' faces and making sure that they realized that they needed to give up. Fortunately, they got the message, and Ino allowed herself to get lost in the kiss for a moment before gently pulling away.

Gaara, obviously still a little dazed, gazed at Ino with a slightly stunned expression as she smiled at him and then linked her arm through his and began guiding him back down the aisle. Everyone let out a loud cheer before following them.

The wedding had been exhausting for the couple, if only because it was so nerve wracking. Unfortunately, the wedding was only the beginning of a very long day. After the ceremony the bridal party had to take the mandatory pictures. Temari had found a nice spot, with a pastoral setting that suited Ino's personality well and softened the harshness of Gaara's. Two hours of posing left them all somewhat cranky and irritable, even Naruto and Ino. The pictures were good, and the ones of Gaara and Ino were slightly amusing to anyone who knew the couple at all well. The photographer had them pose in traditional ways, and seeing the two awkwardly standing in romantic poses had been enough to send some of the observer's (cough, Naruto) into unbridled fits of laugher. Even Sasuke and Neji could be seen hiding grins behind their hands. Well, Ino had managed to pull the poses off fairly well under the circumstances; she was used to that kind of intimacy with strangers. Gaara however was not. He had also put his sand armor back on over his face as soon as the ceremony was over. He had only left it off during the wedding at Kankuro's strict insistence. Gaara probably wouldn't admit it, but he was kind of glad he had listened to his older brother. As a result of the sand, and the fact that Gaara was once again wearing his gourd, it was difficult – even for Ino – to pose naturally around/with him. The one time the photographer had tried to take a kissing shot had resulted in Ino's spluttering and coughing. She was too hesitant around Gaara to ask him to remove it, and the photographer certainly hadn't been about to ask, so he quickly changed his mind about that particular pose.

The photography session was followed by the family luncheon. It was now quite late in the afternoon, but this gathering was fairly relaxed. It was a casual event – except for the fact that everyone was in their formal clothes, and was held in the park with picnic tables and a barbecue. Family in this case included all the special guests invited by either Ino or Gaara, since family for ninja definitely includes team mates and those they work with.

After a few hours of relaxation, the 'festivities' continued with the formal reception. The wedding party stood in a receiving line for what felt like forever. Ino thought she was going to die, and was thankful for her kunoichi stamina. Most of these people were residents of Sunagakure, and she had never seen them before in her life. She kept casting glances at Gaara out of the corner of her eye, but he seemed completely unfazed and at ease – well as at ease as Gaara ever looks, which isn't really at ease at all, but still. She supposed he must be used to this sort of thing. Personally, if she had one more person exclaim about how pretty she was and how they were such a cute couple she would scream. Sure, it was flattering, but Ino knew they were only saying it because they had absolutely nothing else they could comment on.

Gaara was holding an internal debate. Yes, it was his duty to greet all these people, but they just kept on coming! He didn't want to disappoint anybody, but there was only so much he could take, really. It was becoming very flustering. He peeked glances at the blonde woman by his side – his wife, he reminded himself – and she seemed to be enjoying herself. Well, if this was what she wanted he supposed he could keep going...

"This line is never going to end!" Naruto exclaimed loudly from beside Gaara.

"Naruto's right man, time to call it quits," Kankuro agreed.

"But-" Gaara protested. It was his duty!

Temari appeared beside him and grabbed his shoulder gently. "I know you don't want to disappoint anyone, but the entire population of Suna will run through here if you let them," she hissed. "I'm exhausted, and so is everyone else. Give us a break here, huh?" she begged.

Oddly enough, the deciding factor was when Ino heard their conversation and looked at him while she waited for his decision. Her masked slipped and her eyes were _begging_ him to end her torture.

"Fine," Gaara said, leading the way to the head table.

A few stunted speeches – no one was really willing to talk about how they were the perfect couple, and there were no cute stories to share about how they'd met – and the lights dimmed for the dance to begin. Of course, Ino and Gaara opened the dance floor. Ino was quite a skilled dancer – Gaara was not. With his gourd on he was too bulky and he was only vaguely familiar with the steps. Ino's grace was enough to make anyone look good, but it was obvious she was leading him around the dance floor as they waltzed. When the mandatory dance was completed Ino danced the traditional dance with her father, before being passed off to various partners. Unlike at most weddings, her most frequent partner was not Gaara, who had resumed his seat after a dance with Temari that she had forced him into. Gaara did not like dancing, and had sent murderous glares at anyone who approached that looked as though they might be thinking of asking him to dance. He spent the evening watching Ino blossom and relax in the company of her friends. She danced with Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, Neji and Kankuro multiple times. Kankuro was actually her most frequent partner, and Gaara could tell that his brother was attempting to not make it too obvious that she was not dancing with her husband by keeping her occupied. She didn't come back to the table once during the course of the evening, and Gaara couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy and regret. Why did he have to be so awkward around her? Why couldn't they relax and talk and joke like she had no problem doing with anyone else? He didn't love her and she didn't love him, but she was his wife and it hurt that she was so much more comfortable around everyone else – anyone else, really; even the random village boys who begged a dance with the beautiful blonde.

As the evening drew to a close, people began leaving. Finally the shinobi were all who remained and they said their farewells to each other. The leaf shinobi actually had to leave early the next morning, as they could only stay absent from Konoha for so long when they weren't on actual missions. After the tearful farewells they all went their separate ways, Ino trailing after Gaara as she realized she had absolutely no idea where her new home was. Temari assured her that Kankuro had dropped her bags off earlier, so all that was left was to follow and see where it was.

It was a modestly sized house, one that could support a family if the two ever felt so inclined. Walking inside and up the stairs after Gaara she found herself in their fairly spacious bedroom. It was a nice room, if a bit spartan. It really did need a woman's touch, she thought to herself with a small smile. Opening up her small purple suitcase, which held all of her immediate essentials, she grabbed the necessary items before standing back up.

"I need to have a shower," she informed Gaara. He nodded his head in the direction of their bathroom – it was attached to the master bedroom but unobtrusively off to the side – and Ino made her way to it, locking the door behind her out of habit. Quickly jumping into the shower the exhausted kunoichi began washing all the guck out of her hair and her make-up off her face. Her dress was hanging nicely on the back of the door, ready to be packed away. When Ino was able to pull herself away from the relaxing stream of almost boiling water – quicker than usual due to her tired state – she quickly dried herself off and blow-dried her hair before dressing herself in her new nightdress. A nervous glance in the mirror showed her that it fit her even better than she had imagined. The girls had been right, Kankuro did have good taste. Gulping, Ino made sure the bathroom was neat and her stuff stashed properly away before exiting the bathroom and going to her closet – which she idly noted was a walk-in – and hanging the dress. She would finish unpacking tomorrow; right now all she wanted was sleep.

Gaara sat on top of the sheets on his half of the king size bed, his back against the headboard. He had some paperwork that he was reading through when Ino had emerged from the bathroom. He hadn't really noticed her, she was holding her wedding dress carefully in front of her and she went straight to her closet (Gaara had left his open, so she knew that it was hers through her amazing deductive skills). It was when she emerged from the closet that she had almost given Gaara a heart attack. That – that nightdress shouldn't be legal, Gaara's thoughts squeaked. He wasn't sure what his objection to it was, but it did funny things to his body and made his face flush a very bright shade of red. He watched her walk to her side of the bed – sway was probably a better word than walk, he mentally amended – and fold back the sheets before slipping in and pulling them up around her.

Turning to look up at him she quietly said "Goodnight" before turning onto her other side and falling asleep.

When Gaara finally regained his ability to function he shook himself a little and turned his attention back to his paper work. This was actually the part he dreaded the most about getting married. He had a hard time trusting people, and the only people who he felt comfortable sleeping around were his brother and sister – otherwise he felt too vulnerable. All well, he'd never gotten much sleep anyway, and he always had a lot of work to do.

It was much later in the night when his attention was pulled from his work to the woman sleeping next him. She was shivering in her sleep and curled up in a futile attempt to warm herself. She wasn't used to the cold desert nights, Gaara idly noted.

Sighing, he rose from the bed and exited the room, returning a few minutes later with a large wooly looking blanket that he carefully tucked around the sleeping blonde. Her shivering was distracting, he reasoned.

* * *

Well? What did you think?

Sorry if anyone wanted more interaction between the two, but I really don't want to rush this relationship - it's one of my pet peeves actually, when two people randomly start liking each other in a story for no good reason. I guess you could say I'm not a big believer in love at first sight...hmm, never really thought of it like that before.

Anyways, if not by the end of the next chapter, then definitely in the chapter following the ice will crack, and relationships be re-evaluated... so it's coming, I promise! Hey, there was a kiss in this chapter, that gets me some points, right?


	6. The First Few Days

AN: Okay, I know it's short, but it's an update, right? Besides, it was the right place to stop. Anyways, I have tomorrow off work so I'll try to make some real headway into the next chapter. Just so you know, updates will probably be farther apart now, as I'm working and all.

Chapter Five:

Ino awoke the next morning to the sun shining brightly on her face. She sat up and a thick wool blanket fell off her. Looking at it in confusion for a moment, she smiled as she realized what it meant. Turning to the side to thank her husband, she saw only an empty bed. In fact, the sheets hadn't even been disturbed, making it obvious he hadn't slept at all. The grin slipped off of her face and she sat there silently for a minute, thinking. Of course, he was the Kazekage and he had to work – she'd just thought that maybe now that they were married they might actually get to spend some time together. Oh well, she thought with her usual optimistic attitude, there was always this evening. She'd cook him a wonderful supper. With those cheering thoughts she jumped out of bed and got ready to face the day. After her usual morning routine Ino unpacked her luggage and tidied up the bedroom. Gaara wasn't the tidiest individual, she noted as she straightened out the clothes hanging in his closet and shut the doors he'd left open.

Once she was finished in her – err, their – room she took herself on a tour of the rest of the house, saving the kitchen for last.

It was a very nice house, although the rest of the house was just as spartan as the bedroom. She'd have to do something about that – she wanted her home to be beautiful. The kitchen was everything the chef in her could desire. Fixing herself some breakfast she took stock of what was in the kitchen before settling on what to make for dinner.

Ino spent the rest of the morning and the early afternoon tidying the house and mentally making note of the changes she was going to make. She doubted Gaara would care, heck, he probably wouldn't even notice. Besides, _she_ couldn't live in a place like this for long.

She was startled out of her reverie when the door opened. Gaara must have returned home early, she grinned to herself. Bounding towards the door her face fell when she saw a middle-aged woman with short brown hair entering her home.

"Hello," the stranger greeted her kindly. "You must be Kazekage-sama's new wife. My name is Tsuki, I'm the housekeeper."

Ino nodded mutely as the brunette walked past her and looked around in shock.

"It looks like you've already taken care of this place, huh?" she said with a small grin.

Ino felt a little abashed. Was she not supposed to have cleaned? "Sorry," she said quietly. "I just don't really have anything else to do...and I kind of like cleaning."

To her surprise – and relief, the older woman laughed. "What are you apologizing for? It's your house isn't it? I can see that you won't be needing my services anymore. Oh, just so you know, I usually make the Kazekage's lunch the day before and leave it in the fridge. Don't worry about what to make him, he'll eat anything."

Ino nodded mutely, but a grin was slowly making its way across her face. She liked this woman.

"Do you have any questions for me before I go and inform Kankuro-sama that my services have been terminated?" Tsuki asked.

Ino shook her head. "No, but if you ever want to stop by and chat, I'd appreciate the company," she said, recovering her former outgoing character.

"There we go," Tsuki said. "I knew you couldn't be that timid. I'd love to chat with you sometime. How about I stop by tomorrow morning and show you around Suna?"

"That would be perfect," Ino agreed. "I've _got_ to redecorate this place."

"Oh, thank kami," Tsuki sighed. "It really is depressing this way, isn't it?"

The two woman burst into laughter as Tsuki waved good-bye and left Ino alone in the empty house.

Ino kept herself busy by making Gaara some lunch for the following day and carefully packing it away in the fridge. As soon as that was done she checked the time and realized that she ought to start dinner.

Later that evening, Ino sat forlornly at the dinner table, eyeing the remains of her wonderful meal. It would appear that Gaara does not return home for dinner. Sighing, she cleaned up the mess before trudging upstairs to ready herself for bed. She wasn't really tired yet, but she had nothing else to do. She lay in bed studying scrolls while she waited for her husband to return – she hadn't seen him at all today after all.

That was how Gaara found her when he returned home, fast asleep in bed with scrolls scattered around her. A small smile tugged at his lips at the adorable sight she made as he tidied the scrolls and tucked the thick woolen blanket firmly around her. He then sat up next to her on the bed, going over the paperwork he'd brought back with him.

When Ino awoke to an empty bed again the next morning she was not as surprised, and the pang in her chest was noticeably smaller than that of the previous day. The only sign that her husband had even been home was that the scrolls that had previously been strewn across the bed were now stacked on the floor, and his closet door was open.

Holding in a small sigh Ino spent a moment mentally telling herself that she could live like this, and everything would be fine before jumping out of bed to prepare herself for the day. After quickly cleaning the house and checking that Gaara had in fact taken the lunch she left for him she spent some time wandering around her new home. The wandering was not idle – she was deciding on a colour scheme for the house. Since it appeared that Gaara was never going to be home, she figured she may as well just do whatever the hell she wanted. And she really couldn't stand all the white walls. Hmmm. Something warming and cheery was what she was aiming for – and she could get some nice pictures and frame them for over there, and a plant there. Maybe some knickknacks to occupy that niche...

Her scheming was broken off by the sound of the doorbell. Bounding to the door in her usual enthusiastic manner Ino grinned when she saw Tsuki standing there. Grabbing the older woman's arm and pulling her into the house she started listing all of her wonderful plans.

Tsuki was actually quite impressed with Ino's plans, they would work well. Usually girls her age didn't have much of an eye for colour coordination and harmony. It wasn't until on their way home from the market that she learned why.

They were strolling past Suna's only flower shop. It was a small store, but Ino stopped dead at the sight of it. Tsuki looked at the blonde curiously before following her in. Luckily, the two women didn't have to worry about bulky packages that surely wouldn't have fit because they were having everything sent directly to the house.

Ino immediately seemed to relax in this setting, and she seemed at home in it somehow. Flowers weren't common or even particularly popular in the desert, as they died far too quickly. But this particular store had a few greenhouses and was quite prosperous as the only such store in Suna. The in-store selection was fairly small, as most of the flowers didn't last long in the intense heat, but there were a few varieties of desert flowers that bloomed brightly and filled the store with their perfume.

Tsuki politely introduced Ino to the owner of the shop, but as soon as he heard the name Yamanaka he brightened and engaged Ino in an in depth discussion of various preservation techniques. Needless to say Tsuki was shocked. She was even more startled when the younger woman critiqued some of his arrangements and instead of being offended he older man was thrilled and immediately acted on her advice.

They left the shop after Ino promised to stop by for a lengthier visit at some other time, and Tsuki was finally able to question the blonde about her apparent expertise. That was when the older brunette learned that Ino's family had owned and operated a flower shop in Konoha – a renowned and successful flower shop. The Yamanaka's were quite famous for their abilities, and Ino was no exception, despite being a kunoichi as well.

After saying farewell to Tsuki Ino stopped off at home and changed into her training outfit. It had been forever since she'd had time to train and she was looking forward to the opportunity. And it wasn't as if she had to worry about making dinner since Gaara wasn't going to be home. After working herself to near exhaustion in an effort to release some of her pent-up frustration over her impossible situation she returned to her home and a quick supper. After finishing and whipping up a lunch for Gaara the next day with the left-overs she stashed away the purchases that had arrived while she was training before showering and retiring for the evening. Tomorrow she could start work on the house. She wondered idly if Gaara would even notice.

There. Ino stepped back to survey her work with a grin. It had taken her three days, but the house was now decorated to her taste. It looked much more like a home now and was warm and inviting. Smiling happily she cleaned and stowed away the paintbrush she'd been using to put the final coat on the bedroom wall. She'd saved that room for last. Checking the clock she realized she had just enough time to make supper and Gaara's lunch before turning in for the evening. Good thing too, she realized, she was exhausted. She still hadn't seen her husband, so she had no idea what he thought of the changes she'd made to their house. Unfortunately, a large part of her was realizing that she didn't care. He was never there anyway, so what did it matter what he thought of her house?

That night, Gaara returned home late from work as usual. He took a moment to take in the changes to his living space, it appeared that she had finished. He'd been a bit shocked the first day when he'd walked into a house that was the wrong colour, with objects he didn't recognize. It had taken him a few minutes to realize that Ino must have been changing the environment to suit her taste. He liked the changes – it made the place more like home, and more like her. A small part of him wondered what his housekeeper thought of all the changes and if they had interrupted her cleaning regimen, but he shoved that thought aside. As long as Ino was happy, what did it really matter? Besides, for the first time Gaara had the feeling that he was coming home, not just going to a place to rest before returning to work. He was a little surprised to discover exactly how much he liked that feeling.

A small smile found his way to his face at the blonde woman lying on his bed – their bed. They hadn't interacted much these past few days, but seeing her there every night was having a powerful effect on the Kazekage. As was becoming tradition, he wrapped her up tightly in the thick woolen blanket. It had fallen to the floor at some point while she was sleeping. As his arms secured the blanket around her he couldn't help but find his gaze drawn to her soft, pink lips. His mind was drawn back to the feeling of them pressed against his, and an overwhelming desire to repeat that experience filled him. Part of him felt that the impulse was wrong – she was asleep after all. Another part of him though, a stronger part, reminded him that she was his wife and she'd kissed him perfectly willingly before. Unable to stop himself he leaned over her sleeping form and gently pressed his lips to hers in a good-night kiss. Her lips were just as soft as he'd remembered, and inviting in spite of the fact that she was sleeping. Pulling away with a smile he retired to his side of the bed to resume his paperwork, tiredly rubbing at his eyes. The lack of sleep was starting to get to him.

Gaara awoke early the next morning, slightly disoriented. He felt content and well-rested; two feelings he wasn't particularly used to. Then his brain kicked into gear, he'd woken up? When had he fallen asleep? He opened his eyes in shock and took in his surroundings. Ok, so he was in his room, on his bed. That was good, that was where he was supposed to be. The paperwork he'd been working on before he'd fallen asleep was nowhere in sight, and Gaara realized that he was much farther from the end of the bed then he'd realized. Ino was in his arms, and...

His thoughts screeched to a halt. Ino was in his arms? When had that happened? Quickly releasing her and rolling towards his side of the bed he stood up and looked at her in shock. She hadn't moved at all, she was lying in the same spot she lay every night – which meant that he had moved to her. This knowledge disturbed Gaara a little. He had willingly initiated physical contact with another person in his sleep. What did that mean? Looking at Ino's sleeping face, with the early morning sunlight glancing off her hair, he realized he really didn't care. It had felt nice – no, more than that. It had felt right.

* * *

Comments are appreciated!!


	7. The Turning Point

AN: Okay, it's here. A bit later than I told people in review responses, but it's here, it's long, and it has GaaIno interaction. The story is going to begin drawing to a close, some minor bumps on the road, but it's time to start to wrap it up. So hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Six:

Ino was bored. Now that the house was done, she had nothing to entertain herself with. Training could only fill so many hours of her day – she never had been as into it as those obsessive idiots, like Sasuke and Neji. And Gaara was never home to talk to her or keep her company. She'd been married to the man for over a week and she hadn't seen him since she'd said good-night on their wedding night!

As Ino puttered uselessly around the house, she realized the solution to her problem. After all, she was a ninja. Relocating to Suna hadn't changed that, and ninja went on missions, right?

--

Gaara sat in his office, patiently going through the never ending paper work. Sighing from boredom he tore his eyes away and glanced at the clock – it was two in the afternoon, and Gaara was hungry. Hastily placing the papers out of the way Gaara reached into his desk drawer and took out his lunch, eagerly biting into it. Tsuki's cooking had improved lately – that or he was just appreciating it more. The house was looking cleaner than ever before as well. He probably should give her a raise – it might help soothe any ruffled feathers she had over the work Ino had done on the house, and with cooking like this kami knew she deserved it.

Deciding to act now before the thought slipped his mind Gaara pressed a button on his desk and waited patiently for Kankuro to appear.

"I think I ought to give Tsuki a raise," Gaara stated once Kankuro had assumed his usual seat across from him.

Kankuro just looked at him blankly. "Who?" he asked.

"My housekeeper," Gaara replied, looking at his older brother like he was an idiot. "You hired her, you should remember her name at least."

"Ah, Gaara," a bewildered Kankuro said. "Tsuki's services were terminated at her own request the day after your wedding."

"What?" Gaara asked, confused. "But then whose been making my lunch, and cleaning the house?"

Now it was Kankuro's turn to look at his brother like he was an idiot. "I'm guessing maybe your wife?" Kankuro said sarcastically.

"Oh," Gaara said quietly. That would explain it then.

"Why did you want to give her a raise anyway?" Kankuro asked.

"Her cooking was tasting better than ever as late, and the house seems tidier..." Gaara said.

"Ah," Kankuro said wisely. "That's because with Ino it's a labour of love." Kankuro expected a death glare for this remark, and so was understandably put out when all his little brother did was blush. However, the shocked expression quickly changed to a grin. Ino was good; his little brother had it bad.

"I take it things are going well between you," Kankuro asked.

Gaara looked up at him wide-eyed, and mutely nodded. Kankuro's grin changed to a leer.

"So, how far have you gotten?" a curious Kankuro questioned.

Gaara's face flushed an even darker red. "I kiss her good-night every night," he said quietly. Some part of him was hoping for advice from his brother, he had no idea where to go from there and how to interact with Ino on a regular basis – and he really, really wanted to.

"You kiss her good-night every night?" Kankuro said in disbelief. "You're sharing a bed with one of the hottest women I've ever seen (here he ignored Gaara's possessive death glare) and all you've done is kiss her good-night? Don't you want more? And don't even think of trying to tell me you don't because it's quite obvious to everyone you do. You're really smitten with her, aren't you?"

Gaara, in a gesture of helplessness completely out of character for him, only nodded in agreement while sending his older brother a pleading look. Kankuro sighed, it was almost tragic what Ino had reduced this strong man to, but he knew it was all for the better. Besides, it was also amusing.

"Listen Gaara, I've got to go, I've got a date tonight. I promise I'll be in here first thing tomorrow morning and I'll help you any way I can. Okay? We'll figure this out, I promise."

"Thank-you," was all Gaara said before Kankuro turned, exiting his office.

Kankuro, still a little shocked at the changes Ino had made in his brother in just over a week, was chortling merrily to himself – on the inside only, of course – as he made his way down the halls. He didn't really imagine Gaara would have any trouble going further with the blonde. Based on what Temari had told him, Kankuro knew that Ino really wanted her relationship with Gaara to progress and grow. She was probably just waiting for Gaara to make a move so she wouldn't make him uncomfortable. He should probably get Temari to talk to her again, just to make sure he had all the facts when he spoke to Gaara tomorrow. After all, he and Temari hadn't seen her since the wedding.

Kankuro was pulled from his musings when he ran into something, his momentum sending them both tumbling to the floor.

A moment after the shock wore off he was able to take in his surrounding. He was partially on top of the person he'd run into – a female person with long blonde hair. Crap.

Hastily standing up and helping Ino up he apologized profusely for his clumsiness while silently thanking kami Gaara hadn't witnessed his accident. He would have most likely taken it in completely the wrong way.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Ino assured him. "It's partially my fault too – I wasn't watching where I was going either."

"Came to see Gaara?" Kankuro asked, grinning suggestively.

Ino only sighed, and Kankuro, taken aback, took the opportunity to look her over. Not in a perverted way – he was genuinely concerned. Something seemed off about Ino, she seemed...duller somehow.

"Are you feeling alright Ino?" He asked.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine. Hey Kankuro, you're like Gaara's secretary, right?"

"Yes," Kankuro said warily,

"I need to talk to you," was all she said.

Kankuro held in a sigh – it looked like he was going to be late tonight, but he really couldn't leave Ino like she was.

"Follow me," he said, leading Ino into his office.

Once they were safely ensconced in his office, Ino got straight to the point.

"I want a mission," she said.

"I can't do that, Ino," Kankuro said, a little shocked. Why was she talking to him about this – she was married to the bloody Kazekage!

"Of course you can," she snorted. "I know for a fact that you are responsible for assigning ninja to all of the missions that do not require special attention. Don't even try to deny it." Her voice had taken on a warning tone and Kankuro was reminded that Ino was not a woman to mess with.

"I'm not trying to deny it," he said, his hands raised in a placating gesture. "But I can only assign those missions to registered shinobi."

"And I am a registered shinobi," Ino stated,

"Ah – actually, no – you're not," Kankuro explained.

"What?" Ino asked, her voice low and dangerous.

"Well, ah, you see when you married the Kazekage you gave up your position as a ninja of Konoha, due to conflict of interest and all that."

Ino waved her hand in annoyance. "I know that. I gave up my position as a Konoha shinobi and became a shinobi of Sunagakure. That's why I'm asking you for a mission."

"Umm, not exactly," Kankuro mumbled. Unfortunately for him, Ino heard.

"Explain," she said calmly – a pity it only reminded Kankuro of the calm before a storm – a very big storm.

"You were never instated as a shinobi of Sunagakure," Kankuro explained apologetically.

"Then instate me," Ino said, still terrifyingly calm.

"Only the Kazekage can do-"

"Then tell the Kazekage to instate me."

"Umm, I'm not sure he'd be thrilled with the idea. How would you like it if your wife went away for days a little more than a week after your wedding? Besides it's dangerous for you to go – politics and all. And why aren't you asking Gaara any of this yourself?"

"Why would Gaara care if I went away, it's not like I ever see him anyway." Ino said bluntly. "And are you insinuating that I would actually let myself be captured?"

"Of course Gaara would care if you – what do you mean you never see him?"

Ino snorted. "I mean I never see him. I haven't laid eyes on my husband since our wedding."

Kankuro really didn't know how to respond to that – if that was the case why did Gaara seem to think things were going so well?

Fortunately, Ino didn't want a response. "Now," she continued. "You are going to tell the Kazekage to instate me as a Suna ninja, and then you are going to give me a mission. Preferably one where I can get out of this hellhole for a few days, okay?" They both knew it really wasn't a question.

"I can't do that Ino," Kankuro said quietly. "I know for a fact that Gaara really wouldn't want you to go."

"Why not?" Ino said – well, screamed was probably a more accurate term. To Kankuro's surprise tears were actually running down the woman's cheeks. "Why not?" she repeated, more quietly but filled with an even more intense sadness. "Isn't it enough that he dragged me here, away from my family and friends? And then he abandoned me – alone in this village where I know no one. What else am I supposed to do with my time, sit on the couch all day and watch television? If I hadn't met Tsuki I wouldn't have even made it this long. I have _no_ friends here, Kankuro – you and Temari are always busy. And I understand, I really do, but I can't take it anymore. I need to get out – get away from here. Please. Just send me somewhere, anywhere."

She was sobbing by the end of her speech and Kankuro could only gape at her. He had never seen Ino cry – she was always brave and strong and fun. Ino crying was like water burning. It wasn't natural, and it wasn't right. But Kankuro knew he couldn't let Ino leave. It looked like it was up to him to fix things now.

"Ino, I really can't send you on a mission. I'm sorry. Why don't you just go home and – umm, relax. Maybe take a nap? I promise things will get better."

Ino sent him a look of betrayal that clearly said she didn't believe him. Not knowing what else to do the poor girl left and returned home, all alone. To a girl who'd lived her life surrounded by family and close friends, this existence was akin to torture.

Kankuro merely stared after Ino for a few minutes before shaking himself back to the present and marching to his brother's office. He was going to have words with him.

Gaara was understandably shocked when Kankuro barged into his office shortly after he had exited.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you had a da-" Gaara trailed off, stunned by the waves of silent fury rolling off of his older brother. "What happened?"

"I just had a little run in meeting with someone," Kankuro said, standing over his brother. "Would you like to explain to me why your _wife_ ran out of here in tears?"

Ino? Crying? Gaara felt a wave of fury build up in his chest. His sand came pouring out of his gourd in the corner and began swirling around the room before surrounding and trapping Kankuro.

"What did you do to her?" he asked coldly.

"I didn't do anything!" Kankuro shouted, still too angry to be frightened. "You did!"

A moment of silence and then the sand collapsed to the ground. Gaara, who had stood from his chair, sunk back into it. The anger was instantly replaced with sadness.

"I did?" he asked confused. "But how? I haven't even talked to her, how could I have hurt her?"

Kankuro resisted the urge to smack himself in the head – and the urge to smack his brother. Was it really possible for anyone, even Gaara, to be that clueless? Seeing that Gaara was feeling remorseful made Kankuro take a deep, steadying breath, forcing himself to calm down. Taking his usual seat he leaned his elbows on Gaara's desk and massaged his temples with his fingers, trying to think of the best way to explain everything to Gaara.

"Gaara, do you remember when you were a child, how you felt so alone?" Gaara only nodded mutely. "Then you met Naruto, and you opened up to us, and you felt better right?" Gaara only nodded once more, wondering where Kankuro was going with this.

"How does Ino make you feel?" Kankuro asked, curious.

"She – makes me feel important, and special. Needed. Like I'm a part of something – she makes me feel not alone," Gaara answered after a moment of thought.

It was Kankuro's turn to nod in agreement. "Okay, and how do you make Ino feel?" Gaara could only look at him, confused.

"You know what kind of person Ino is right?" Kankuro expanded. "She grew up with a loving family, and she's always had lots of friends."

Gaara was nodding his understanding again.

"She gave all that up to come with you. What have you given her to replace that?"

Gaara though about it for a moment, before his eyes widened with understanding.

But Kankuro continued mercilessly. "Yes, I suppose you could argue that you've provided her with physical necessities – but she was perfectly capable of providing those for herself, until she gave up her career as a ninja to be with you. And you've given her nothing to replace the relationships she left behind. You didn't even make an effort to show her around town and introduce her to people!"

A horrible, gnawing sense of guilt was building in Gaara's stomach. Kankuro was right, he realized hopelessly. He'd done absolutely nothing to repay Ino for everything she had done for him. He felt terrible, but Kankuro still wasn't finished.

"Do you want to know why she came here today?" Kankuro asked, but didn't wait for a response. "She came because she's going insane. She has nothing to do here to occupy her time! She's a ninja, she's not content to just sit at home doing nothing. Housework can only keep her occupied for so long, especially if you're never there to contribute to the mess. She has no one to talk to – except apparently occasional visits with your old maid, Tsuki. I'm guessing you owe Ino's sanity – or at least the fact that she's still here, to her. Anyways, Ino wanted a mission, and I had to turn her down because she's too big of a political target. She left in tears."

Silence filled the office as Kankuro finished his tirade, closely watching Gaara.

"Wh-what do I do?" Gaara asked helplessly after a few minutes.

"Finish up your work here as fast as you can, and leave anything that can be left. Go home and take Ino out to supper tonight. Talk to her, get to know her a bit more. Don't be afraid to compliment her or let her know that you feel something for her. Leave the sand armor _off._ Come back to your office tomorrow and tell me how it went, and I'll figure out more stuff for you then. Okay? I've really got to go now, Kaede is going to think I've stood her up, but if she is still waiting I've got to apologize. You'll be fine, just – get home as fast as you can," Kankuro offered, before turning and leaving Gaara alone.

--

It was six-thirty by the time Gaara finished the necessary paper work and left for home – he had absolutely no idea how he had finished everything so fast. Regardless, the work was done (and that was nothing short of a miracle) and Gaara hurried home to be with his wife for the first time.

He was actually feeling a little excited at the thought of going out for dinner with Ino – and understandably nervous. It was technically their first date since their only other attempt had been joined by Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.

Ino had just finished her dinner and placed the dishes in the sink. Gaara's lunch for tomorrow was packed and in the fridge, and she was sweeping the kitchen floor while she let the dishes soak a little so she could clean them more easily.

Gaara opened the door and silently entered his house. Of course, Ino was a ninja too, so even if Gaara was completely silent (as was his habit) she still heard the door open and came to see who it was with her broom still in her hand. The picture she made – standing in the kitchen door frame with an apron and broom – made Gaara's heart do a funny little jump in his chest.

Ino was shocked when she saw her husband standing in the hall, still in his Kazekage robes with his gourd strapped on his back.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, perhaps a little rudely.

"I – I," Gaara paused to mentally square his shoulders. He was actually too nervous to really notice Ino's shock and abruptness.

"I came home to take you out to dinner," he offered as an explanation for his surprising return.

Ino turned her head, looking at the dinner dishes in the sink, a little confused.

"I – I already ate," Ino said. Her voice was quiet and shy and quite unlike her.

"Oh," Gaara said. His face fell – Ino hadn't been able to detect his nervousness and excitement before, but the sadness present on it now made it glaringly obvious.

Maybe – maybe she ought to give him another chance. After all, it wasn't like he was used to relating to people. Besides, she really _wanted_ to give him another chance, she still wanted to make things work with him – he was her husband.

"Have you eaten?" she asked.

Gaara shook his head, "No."

Ino smiled warmly at him. "Well, come sit down then, I'll heat something up for you."

Ino heated up some left-overs from dinner she'd been planning on eating for lunch the following day, and then silently sat across from her husband while she waited for him to eat. Her mind was a whirling mess of thoughts and ideas as she tried to figure out what to do next.

"Do you still want to go out?" she asked after a few minutes.

Gaara just looked at her, confused. His eyes were darting from his dinner plate to Ino's face as if to say that he just ate.

Ino giggled – her laugh was entirely feminine and flirty without being annoying – and explained. "We could go out for dessert, if you want," she offered.

Gaara met her gaze, and a strange, hopeful look was in his eyes. Ino giggled again.

"Well, it's settled then," she said as she smiled at him. "I'll go get ready while you finish eating, and you can change while I wash up." With that she was gone.

The Kazekage was surprised to find that he was smiling contentedly to himself. He really did enjoy being in her presence – even more so when she was awake. He was starting to realize that he might have been a complete idiot in avoiding her before. Yes, he was ready to admit it to himself. He had been avoiding her – avoiding the fact that she might hate him, or perhaps even worse be terrified of him. Now that she was married to him she had technically fulfilled her duty to her Hokage and was no longer under Tsunade's jurisdiction – in other words she didn't have to be nice to him anymore.

Of course, Kankuro had been right, he'd been so concerned about himself he'd forgotten how hard this must be for Ino, but even after all that she still didn't hate him. That knowledge filled Gaara with a warm sense of determination. Ino was willing to be in his life – and he really wanted her to be there with him. From now on he wanted to make sure she knew that.

Gaara quietly finished eating and then moved his dishes to the sink where he began washing them. He had barely begun this task when he sensed Ino's presence coming down the stairs to the kitchen.

Gaara's face flushed and his stomach lurched at the sight of his wife. She was wearing a dark purple – almost black – dress that went a few inches below mid-thigh. It was simple and elegant and suited her perfectly. Her hair was down and she looked absolutely stunning.

"Gaara," she said, and her tone was exasperated. "Not that I don't appreciate you trying to do your own dishes and everything, but could you please go get ready? I'll finish up."

"I am ready," said a confused Gaara.

"Oh," Ino said, eyeing his formal Kazekage robes. She'd envisioned something a little different – well, if that's what he wanted to wear...Wait a second. She was Ino Yamanaka, people did what she wanted, not the other way around. What was she doing? What had she been doing for the past few days – moping? That wasn't like her. Not at all. Ino grinned to herself even as she fixed a glare on the Kazekage – she was back.

"No," she said to Gaara. "You're not ready. If you think I'm letting you take me out in that you are sorely mistaken. Go change."

Gaara blinked at her. Was she ordering him around? No one ordered him around. He was about to tell her that he was fine dressed as he was when he remembered what Kankuro had said to him – he could let her have her way in this at least. It was a good thing too, because his feet had been subconsciously obeying Ino's command anyway and he was already in their room.

Ino was waiting impatiently in their living room by the time Gaara came down the stairs, her high-heels tapping anxiously on their wood floor. When she caught sight of Gaara her breath caught in her throat. Since when was her husband hot? Clothed in dress pants and a deep red shirt he made quite a stunning sight. Ino had never really looked at him before, but know that she was she was not disappointed. Suppressing the urge to blush Ino stood up from her seat on the couch and moved towards the door, grabbing her husband's arm on the way.

Ino latched herself onto Gaara's arm (and was thrilled when she noticed it was his actual arm, not sand) just as she had that first night they'd met a few weeks ago. They strolled down the street almost aimlessly, neither sure of where exactly the other wanted to go or if they had somewhere in mind. Finally a fed-up Ino snapped and dragged Gaara into a fancy looking café where they saw other couples sitting around tables sharing desserts.

They stood in the doorway until they were safely seated at a comfortable table in a corner, next to the window and a lovely fireplace that gave off a comforting heat in the chilly night air of the desert.

Gaara and Ino browsed through their respective menus in silence as they decided what to order. Ino settled on a sinfully dark chocolate cheesecake with strawberries while Gaara elected to try a frozen raspberry cheesecake with chocolate.

The awkward silence remained after the waiter left with their orders and menus. Ino, of course, was the first to break the silence.

"How was work?" she asked him, smiling.

"Fine," Gaara said. There really wasn't anything to say about his job. All he did most of the time was paperwork.

"It must be stressful, running the village," Ino said sympathetically, trying to pull an answer longer than one word out of him.

Gaara only shrugged.

Ino suddenly felt the need to scream – and she'd thought Sasuke had been unresponsive!

The building tension was interrupted by the arrival of the waiter, who placed a bottle of champagne and two glasses on the table.

"Compliments of the restaurant," he said with a smile at Ino followed by a respectful nod to the Kazekage.

"Thank-you!" Ino beamed at the man. The waiter flushed but quickly left as a wave of killing intent suddenly filled the air, emanating from Gaara.

Ino was surprised – she hadn't expected Gaara to get jealous – she didn't even know Gaara and he'd always avoided her... although he had come home tonight to spend time with her. Maybe he really had just been busy. Regardless, Ino mentally filed the information away for later use – Gaara was possessive and thought of her as his. Now Ino just had to decide how she felt about that.

The first waiter was followed by another who placed their cheesecake down on the table and poured the champagne – the first waiter had left in too much of a hurry to remember.

When they were left alone again, Ino came to the conclusion that she wanted to know just exactly what it was Gaara actually felt about her. Of course, asking him straight out would probably be the simplest way to get her answer – but this was Ino and so that thought never even crossed her mind. Crossing her legs under the table she "accidentally" ran her foot up Gaara's leg in the process. He froze and turned a delightful shade of red. Ino smirked to herself – at least she knew he wasn't immune to his own hormones.

With her legs now comfortably crossed she took a sip of champagne before picking up her fork and beginning to eat her cheesecake. Gaara watched, fascinated. She ate so daintily, almost like a bird. It was quite cute actually.

When she noticed that Gaara was staring at her, and not actually eating any of his own food, Ino was concerned.

"Are you not hungry?" she asked.

"What? No, I was just..." Gaara trailed off, feeling flustered and confused. He didn't know what to say, or what to do. It made him feel helpless and that wasn't something he coped well with. But at the same time he felt comfortable. Why was that?

"Did you want to try some of mine?" she offered.

"Uhh, sure," Gaara said, not really sure at all. He picked up his fork and reached across the table to take a bit of her cake, but she knocked his hand out of the way.

Gaara looked up at her, confused. Ino just smiled at him and presented him with a piece from her own fork.

A little shocked and very red, Gaara let her maneuver the cake into his mouth. It was very good, not too bitter (thanks to the strawberries) and not too sweet.

"It's good," Gaara said after he swallowed.

"I certainly think so," Ino responded with a grin.

"Do you want to try mine?" Gaara offered. He couldn't escape the lingering feeling that he was supposed to offer.

"I'd love to," she said.

Gaara waited for a moment for Ino to take a piece from his plate, before her expectant gaze notified him that she was waiting...

Oh. Still blushing Gaara used his own fork and placed some cheesecake into his wife's awaiting mouth. Her eyes were closed as she accepted the cake and a delightful sigh of appreciation left her after she swallowed.

"Mm, yours is really good too," Ino stated.

For some inexplicable reason her approval sent a surge of confidence through the red-head. He was the Kazekage for crying out loud, not some twelve year old genin brat. He should act like it, not blush and hide and let Ino make all the decisions and always lead the way. Besides, she was his wife. It wasn't like she could just decide not to see him anymore – they lived together. They shared a bed for crying out loud!

Suddenly the implications of that struck Gaara with a whole new meaning. Maybe it was Ino's behaviour, or maybe it was his realization that he had feelings for the beautiful blonde, but Gaara suddenly felt a desire to maybe pursue some of those implications.

They finished their dessert in silence, but the silence was no longer awkward. It was full of hidden glances and touches. Something was building between these two. Gaara paid the bill at the end and escorted Ino out of the café, one arm wrapped possessively around her waist. This prevented her from latching onto his arm as she usually did, but Gaara didn't mind as it allowed him to feel more in control of the situation. Ino settled for leaning against him as she walked, bringing them even closer together.

Neither of the two wanted to go home – they were both afraid the magic of the evening would end. Instead they walked around the village for a while, content in each others presence. Eventually they left the village, strolling around the outskirts until they arrived in a solitary location, away from the lights of the city with only the full moon and brilliant stars to light their path.

"It's beautiful," Ino whispered.

"I used to go out on the roofs to look at the moon – back when I couldn't sleep," Gaara offered. "It would always calm me."

Ino was surprised at this sudden revelation, but she didn't show it. Instead she showed her appreciation for his honesty by snuggling closer into his side. Plus, it was getting cold outside and her wrap wasn't particularly warm. Gaara felt like a small furnace, burning away at her side.

In response to her snuggling, Gaara tightened his grip around her waist. Sand started pouring out from his gourd and it gathered around and beneath the two of them. It slowly rose into the air, stopping a couple hundred feet above the ground. It also pushed Ino even closer to Gaara.

The sand turned them so they could see the city sprawled out before them. It was a breath-taking sight.

"I love the stars," Ino confessed to Gaara. "At the end of the day, I used to join Shikamaru in his cloud-watching as the sun went down. We'd wait until the stars came out before heading back in. They are always there, following their path and brightening the darkness. A constant in the chaotic life of a shinobi. Whenever I was on mission away from home I could look at the stars and know that they shone over Konoha too, and all my friends, wherever they were."

"I like the moon," Gaara said quietly. "Even though it gives no light itself, it can still reflect the light of others in a beneficial way, shining the brightest in the night sky."

Ino turned to look at Gaara, understanding the sad sense of – well self-loathing wasn't the right word... maybe resignation tinged with hope?

"You know, being the Kazekage must be challenging," Ino said softly. Gaara grunted in agreement, not really knowing where she was going with this.

"Everyone looks up to you, you lead them through the darkness and direct their paths. It's a lot of responsibility, but from what I hear you do it really well," she complimented.

Gaara caught the hidden message behind her words and a small smile formed as he turned to face her.

Both of their breath's caught in their throats as their gazes met.

Slowly leaning in to each other, their lips met in a consuming kiss, filled with need and pent up tension and desire. Gaara had no idea what came over him, but kissing an awake Ino was definitely more rewarding than kissing a sleeping Ino. One of his hands slid down her side while the other tightened around her waist, pulling her closer to him and pressing her against him. Ino gracefully wrapped her arms around his neck, weaving her fingers through his red hair as she pulled his head closer to her own, deepening the kiss and asking for entrance to his mouth.

She was shocked when Gaara denied her and responded by dominating the kiss himself. Ino had never been kissed like this before, never had control so abruptly removed – and she loved it.

When they separated minutes later they were both breathless. They couldn't meet each other in the eye for a few moments, before Ino resolved the crisis by leaning her head on Gaara's shoulder and looking back up at the night sky. Gaara immediately relaxed at her actions and wrapped his arm back around her waist.

It didn't take him long to realize that his wife was shivering, so he slowly lowered them back to the ground and guided her back to their house.

That night in bed Ino looked up at her husband and said good-night, just like she had on their wedding night. Instead of turning away though, she fell asleep watching him work, a contented smile on her face. Hardly an hour later Gaara put his work on the floor with a sigh. All he really wanted to do right know was join his wife in slumber, he'd figure out a way to finish up the work tomorrow, after he talked to Kankuro. Lying down, he pulled his wife against him and fell asleep with her in his arms, her breath warming his neck.

--

Ino awoke the next morning feeling very happy and contented, something she hadn't felt in a long while. She opened her eyes to see...nothing. She was alone, again.

* * *

Well? Comments? Questions? Theories? Thanks for the input so far by the way, you guys have been great. Like I said at the beginning of the story, we're probably over half-way there. Which means there will be more GaaIno interaction out there for all you who crave it (myself included). I just had to get all the beginning awkwardness out of the way. I think they're comfortable enough with each other now to work things out themselves, instead of relying on others (CoughKankurocough) to make things right.


	8. The Tests

AN: Okay, I'll apologize for the wait, because I know it's been a while and this is not a particularly long chapter. In fact, I wrote all except the first paragraph or so within the last two hours - or is it less? As a result of this I ask you to forgive any errors, I gave it a read through but I don't usually catch my own mistakes until 3 days later. Sorry, but I made the executive decision not to make you wait any longer. If its horrible (I'll look at it again in a few days) then I'll repost, K, but if its not that bad I'll probably leave it alone.

For those of you who don't care about my other stories, skip to the story, but I have a few words to say at the end of the chapter. For those of you who do care:

I have received a few PM's asking when I plan on publishing the other stories mentioned in my profile. I believe I responded to all of you, but I could have missed some as my internet has been insane lately. So, this is what's going to happen. I will finish this story, which probably has around three chapters left after this one. Somewhere in between those, or shortly after finishing this story, I will post the KibaxIno oneshot I have almost finished. Then I will start writing the SasukexIno (which is the one most of you seem to want, so I'll do it, even though I'm personally more excited about the NaruIno). I'm just going to let you know that after I finish this story I'm also going to be returning to my novel, which means updates may be even more sporadic. i apologize, but that's the way its going to be. However, I also swear to finish every story I post, so I haven't forgotten a story just because I haven't updated in a few weeks, k?

On with the story! and sorry about the ramble, I just wanted you all to know so you could stop messaging me the same questions (not that I don't like hearing from you, of course :) ) Plus, a little shameless plugging never hurt anyone.

Chapter 7:

Gaara had awoken late, for him. That was the best he had slept, well, ever. He headed off to work a little later than he would have liked, although still insanely early by anyone else's standards.

Kankuro was waiting for him in his office.

"How'd it go?" Kankuro asked.

Gaara smiled at his brother, unable to frame the words to describe his feelings.

Kankuro raised an eyebrow and let out a low whistle. "That good, huh?" he said. "What, did you finally-" Kankuro's voice trailed off. "I don't know why I'm even asking. You have no hormonal drive whatsoever. Of course nothing happened."

Fortunately for Gaara, Kankuro missed the red that tinged Gaara's cheeks at this point. Kankuro didn't need to know some of the thoughts that had crossed Gaara's mind last night. They really weren't any of his business.

"So you took her out for supper then?" asked Kankuro.

Gaara shook his head.

"No?" Kankuro was confused. Didn't Gaara just say his evening had gone well?

"She'd already eaten by the time I got home,"

"Well," he said impatiently. "What happened then?"

"She made me supper, then we went out for dessert. Then we watched the stars," Gaara explained. The simple words were all he could find to describe his evening. Thinking about it still overwhelmed him, it had been the best night of his life – better even then the day his village had finally acknowledged him and made him Kazekage.

Kankuro grinned and patted his baby brother on the back.

"Good job, little brother," he congratulated. "It seems you are beginning to grasp the concept of spending time with a girl. Now we just have to worry about how to keep Ino occupied while you work. First of all, and I've been telling this to you for a while now, you need to delegate more of your responsibilities. Half the things you do could be done by other people, which would free up a lot more time that you could spend with your little blonde vixen."

Gaara considered this. Kankuro _had_ brought this up before, but Gaara had always liked the fact that his job kept him so busy. Now he couldn't help but feel that his older brother was right. Hesitantly he nodded.

"Great," Kankuro exclaimed. "I've got some chunin lined up for interviews, don't worry about a thing, I'll take care of it. So, now that we've freed up some of your time, how are we going to occupy Ino's?"

"Well, just because she's not a ninja, doesn't mean there aren't things she can do, right?" Gaara reasoned.

"Exactly," Kankuro nodded. "Hey what if she was a receptionist here? She'd be close to you and she would get to meet lots of new people!"

Gaara thought about it hesitantly. Yes, having Ino close would definitely be a bonus, and she would get to meet people. But she wouldn't have a chance to bond with anyone, and Gaara knew Ino well enough that she craved relationships, not acquaintances. Still Kankuro knew more about this kind of thing then he did...

The Kazekage was spared the burden of answering when Temari flew into the room, banging the door open without a hint of respect.

"What's this about Ino?" she demanded, brandishing a scroll that Kankuro had sent her the night before. "You better not have been hurting one of my friends!" she threatened. Fortunately she noticed the chastised look on Gaara's face and refrained form further berating.

"We were thinking about making her a receptionist here, so she'd have something to do," Kankuro explained excitedly. He was obviously thrilled with his idea.

Temari seemed less ecstatic though, and she gave Gaara a look of disbelief. "You think Ino's going to be happy in some make-work job that a monkey could do with its eyes closed? You're dumber than I thought."

"Hey!" Kankuro exclaimed, speaking up in defense of his 'great' idea.

While his siblings squabbled Gaara's mind was racing. He had an idea, and it might work. Ino seemed like the right type... and she'd given up so much for him it was only fair to give her a chance.

"What if I instated Ino as a Suna kunoichi?" he postulated.

Kankuro looked at him in disbelief, and even Temari was wide-eyed.

"You know she's too big of a political target to leave the village,"

"First she'd have to pass my test of course," Gaara explained, and comprehension began to dawn on his siblings.

"Okay, but then what will you do with her when she doesn't pass?" Kankuro asked.

"She could always work in the flower shop, her family ran one in Konoha," Gaara shrugged.

"And if she does pass?" Temari added. Kankuro looked at her like she was an idiot, but Gaara merely smirked. "Then I'll make her an Academy instructor," he explained. "She' won't be able to leave the village and the children ought to keep her busy. I think she'd like spending time with the kids."

Temari was pleased that Gaara wasn't setting out to fail Ino and he had a plan for if she won, however unlikely Gaara and Kankuro may believe that to be. If there was one thing Temari had learned on her frequent trips to Konoha - aside from the fact that Shikamaru always knew more then he let on - it was to never underestimate Yamanaka Ino.

--

The kunoichi in question was beyond thrilled when she was informed about the upcoming opportunity. However, she was understandably a little put out when she learned just exactly what her test was.

She had to fight - and beat - Gaara. Admittedly, this was considerably less difficult then fighting him in the chunin exams would have been, seeing as how he was undemonized and all now. Unfortunately, Gaara skills had only grown in the years that had passed...fortunately the same could be said of Ino's.

She stood in the arena facing her husband, separated by about ten feet. One look at his face let her know that there was no way he would go easy on her. That was fine, she didn't want him to.

Ino had been given one week to prepare for this fight. Over that week she and Gaara had been able to spend more time together, talking and walking, and of course, kissing. She could honestly say that she was beginning to develop feelings for the withdrawn redhead, and she felt that he might be feeling the same as well. However, Ino had no intention of losing as a result of those feelings and offered a silent prayer of thanks to whichever kami was listening that her technique had failed during the chunin exams. She had never talked to Gaara about it and she didn't think he knew what her family jutsu did - or even that she had a clan jutsu. In fact, she was betting on it, because she knew there was no way she'd be able to beat Gaara in a physical fight.

Smiling coyly at her husband as the referee announced the beginning of the match Ino's hands quickly flashed through the symbols that would have sent any konoha-nin running and dodging out of her range. No one here was a konoha-nin, and the only person who recognized the symbols wisely kept her mouth shut - Temari wanted Ino to win after all.

"Shintenshin no jutsu," Ino declared in her mind before her consciousness took a flying leap at Gaara who was standing absolutely still, arms crossed as he waited for her to begin the fight - just like Temari had said he always did.

-

Gaara was eyeing his wife with curiosity and a little disappointment. Whatever useless ninjutsu she was about to try would not make it past his sand shield, of that he was certain, even if he didn't recognize the signs. Of course, he hadn't expected much - look at her, she was too frail and delicate and beautiful to really be a killer or even a decent ninja. Not that he was complaining - he loved her anyways...Err, what?

Gaara's thought's were abruptly cut off, and the next thing he knew he was standing in the middle of the field with Ino in his arms and his lips on hers. While Gaara was more than happy to be kissing Ino, he was understandably confused so after a minute he untangled their tongues and stepped back just enough to create some room to breathe - and think - which had been impossible in his former situation. Everyone was cheering loudly, although some people looked a little bewildered, and Temari and Kankuro were descending from the stands to join the couple.

"Not that that wasn't interesting," Kankuro began, "but wasn't the point of this test that Ino actually fight, not that you just sign the forms and kiss your wife?"

"Pardon?" a confused Gaara asked.

"Ah," Temari smirked. "I guess you two don't know about the Yamanaka's clan jutsu."

A vague understanding began to dawn in the two men's eyes. "Come," Gaara commanded, leading the way out of the arena to a place they could speak without having to shout.

"You never told me you had a clan jutsu," Gaara said to Ino, feeling a little betrayed.

"You never asked," she reminded him.

"Is anyone going to explain to me what just happened? What kind of jutsu makes the victim do whatever the caster wants?"

"The shintenshin," Ino said simply. "My clan are mindwalkers, I can take over your brain and learn whatever I want, make you relive whatever memories I say, and do whatever I ask." Kankuro couldn't repress a shiver at the cold and dangerous tone that Ino's voice assumed during her little speech.

"Mind control," Temari clarified.

"So you made me kiss you?" Gaara clarified, a little confused as to how that had led to her winning.

"No," Ino explained. I made you sign forms declaring me a jounin of Sunagakure, and _then_ I got you to kiss me."

"I see," Gaara said as his brain sped to process the information. He had been far to confident and underestimated his beautiful wife, that much was obvious. The fight had been humiliatingly brief. However it had failed to accomplish its initial purpose, which was to give Gaara an opportunity to evaluate her ability to protect herself.

"Well, what's done is done," he said. "We welcome you to the ranks of the Sunagakure shinobi."

"Thank-you, Lord Kazekage," Ino said with a graceful curtsy and a mocking smirk.

"I have an assignment for you," Gaara said, thinking fast. "But I need to see your weapons skills before I can declare you ready."

Ino's eyes narrowed. "Listen, I was a special ANBU in Konoha, whatever little weapons test you have for me is going to be embarrassing - for you. I know that you are a lot stronger than me, and I proved my ability to act rationally by taking you on in the only way I could. Can we stop this nonsense now?"

"I just want to know you'll be safe," Gaara said softly, not meeting Ino's eyes. Immediately her glare softened and she sighed.

"Fine, give me your test."

"Thank-you," Gaara said, and it was heartfelt.

Temari and Kankuro were speechless with shock. They had never seen their brother act like this before - ever. He was actually talking about _feelings_, and it wasn't long ago they would have sworn he didn't have any. Even Kankuro didn't _talk_ about his emotions, or admit concern. It was quite obvious to the two of them that Gaara - their little baby brother and the Kazekage of the village hidden in the sand - was completely and irrevocably in love with Ino Yamanaka. They could only hope that she felt the same.

_--_

The weapons test Ino had agreed to submit herself to was another battle. This one was against a newly appointed jounin named Matsuri. Temari had told Ino that the young girl wasn't particularly skilled, except with one weapon. Gaara had interrupted then and forbidden her from saying anymore. Obviously this weapon would be what the girl fought with, and Ino was forced to make her own decision blind. She considered bringing out her katana, which she was fairly skilled with, but decided to make her point a little more strongly. Ino's chosen weapon for this battle was a single kunai.

When the spar began - in the same arena as her fight with Gaara - Ino didn't get a very good look at Matsuri's weapon, but it looked small and not particularly dangerous. Ino darted forward to attack with her kunai and was incredibly startled when Matsuri swung her weapon and a chain shot out which darted out to wrap around Ino's ankles and trip her. Jumping quickly into the air Ino flipped backwards and landed. Her feet had scarcely touched the ground when the chain - which must be being manipulated by the girl's chakra since it's movements were not natural - whipped back around to snare her arms around her waist. Ino quickly bent backwards, allowing the chain to pass over her before righting herself and flipping back out of the weapon's range to gain a moment of thought.

Matsuri was astonished when Ino dodged her blow, as were the rest of the onlookers. They had never before met someone who was that flexible!

Meanwhile Ino had decided to take a chance and try to end this quickly. If she could pull it off then she would look pretty good - if she couldn't then she should still be able to back off and rethink, but she figured it was worth a try. Darting forward once again Ino kept a close watch on Matsuri and the chain. Ino was bending, jumping and stretching as she avoided the chain and moved ever closer to the young jounin. The audience was slightly awed, but Ino was just smirking. She had been right. The girl's control was much worse the closer Ino got as she had to be careful not to hit herself, and it seemed that the chain only had two options - fully extended or fully closed, which meant that once Ino dodged her initial defense she was trying to block her with sections of chain rather than the dangerously pointed end.

The fight was over in five minutes when Ino reached Matsuri, spun around her while she was preoccupied with her chain, and held a kunai to her neck. Ino felt content that she had proved her fighting ability to the people of Suna.

Even Gaara was impressed. He had of course asked the Hokage for Ino's papers before proposing her instatement as a Suna kunoichi, but he had had a hard time believing the impressive record she displayed. No one who looked as innocent as Ino should have successfully completed that many S-ranked missions! The details of those mission had been sketchy, so Gaara had assumed that they must must have just been surprisingly easy - but watching Ino now he wasn't so sure. He'd have to see how much about her past missions she'd be willing to share - maybe he could say it was necessary?

When Ino approached him he nodded his head in the direction they had gone after her first fight with him.

"There's one more thing I need to know before I give you your assignment," Gaara said, looking straight into her eyes. "I understand that your missions as a Konoha kunoichi are confidential, and I won't ask you to betray that trust. I just need to know about the difficulty of your S-ranked missions. You've completed a surprising number - a number that would be surprising even in a genius' records like the Hyuuga. Not to say that your skill is less than his but-" Gaara decided to stop talking before he made the situation was worse. This was the first time he had ever spoken too much, and the feeling was confusing.

Ino understood what he was asking and wasn't offended. She was however a little frightened. This was the one thing she had been hoping never to have been asked - how was she to explain that all but two of those S-ranks were seduction missions, and she'd done so many so quickly because she was so good at them?

--

One of the reasons I took so long was because I haven't really been in a chick lit/romancy (and yes, I know that's not a word. Poetic license people) mood of late. For a number of reasons. However, I've recently watched some classic chick flicks and pulled out my old fairy tale books as well as some other chick lit, and am all geared up for romance, so full steam ahead!

On another note, I pretty much had the plot for the last few chapters figured out, but the end of this chapter through me for a curve ball. I hadn't planned on Gaara _ever_ finding out about those missions...but I like it. It may mean I need an extra chapter to figure it out - I originally projected ten and maybe an epilogue - but it won't take me that much more work. So we're almost there folks, hope that my slow updating doesn't case you to lose faith, but I need to have a life too, right? exactly. Anyways, toodle pip and all that, review if you want to make me happy (which means I'll write more).


	9. The Truth

AN: This chapter sort of came from no where, I'll tell you that much. But I'm actually pretty proud of it. Hopefully you like it too. It's pretty short, but notice how quickly I'm posting, huh? huh? The quickness is mostly the result of some particularly wonderful reviews, so I just wanted to thank you one more time! Anyways, I've decided I talk too much at the beginnings of my chapters, so continue please, with the story.

Chapter Eight: The Truth

Ino was silent for a moment as she considered the implications of answering Gaara's question. She could of course brush it off with the reply that the information was confidential, but that wouldn't be fair. It would also be a lie, and just because she was good at lying didn't mean she enjoyed it. Tsunade-sama had told Ino she was free to share basic information about her past missions with her husband, as long as particulars like people and places were left out.

On the other hand Gaara was just beginning to trust her, and she honestly felt like their relationship was progressing. What it was building to she wasn't entirely certain, but she knew that more than anything she wanted to find out. Couldn't she just have the perfect relationship based on one tiny little lie?

No, of course she couldn't. Nothing true and lasting could be built on a lie.

"Gaara, I'm a ninja, and I've done a lot of things I'm not particularly proud of to protect my village and the people I care about," Ino said, skirting around the issue a little in an attempt to explain things to her husband.

Gaara nodded his understanding. Heck, in the past he'd done things he wasn't proud of simply because he'd wanted to. But he understood what she meant now, as the Kazekage he had the privilege of seeing just how devoted to their village many people really were, and how much strength it gave them. He'd pegged Ino as that type the moment he learned she was giving up her life to marry him, simply because her Hokage had asked her to.

"I have rather unique abilities, so it made sense that I be sent on specialized missions," she hinted.

"Information gathering?" The conclusion was obvious now that he knew about her family jutsu. "But why would those be S-ranked?" Gaara questioned.

Ino nodded her head in acknowledgement that he had spoken and continued speaking. "Information gathering and assassination. Not particularly dangerous - unless one must get into the middle of the enemies' territory to get the information," she said quietly.

"Ah, undercover missions. You must be a particularly talented actress to have fooled so many..." Gaara trailed off. He was confused, usually a ninja could only work undercover missions in the beginnings of their career, after that they usually became somewhat well-known (if they were any good, and everything Ino had done today and what he had read indicated that she _was_ good) and undercover missions became an impossibility. Come to think of it, Ino wasn't particularly well-known. He ought to have heard of her and her clan's jutsu before now. That was odd, assassins were usually top-priority in Bingo books.

"You're wondering why you've never heard this before," Ino said a trifle bitterly. Always working from the shadows can become a bit depressing as no one can ever acknowledge your skills and sacrifices. "The kind of work I do requires a certain amount of anonymity. You may have noticed that I lack the tattoo identifying me as ANBU? Every time I go on a mission it's under a disguise and an assumed name. Every death I've dealt is assumed to have been the result of natural causes, and every prisoner I've tortured or invaded the mind of has forgotten the incident occurred." The bitterness in her voice was stronger now, and she had to take a moment to regain her self-composure before spilling the truth to Gaara.

"To ensure this, every time I must get my victim alone in a natural way, and then I am able to do with them as necessary. There's a surprisingly easy way to do that, as you may have guessed. I don't know if you've ever sent any of your kunoichi on this type of mission, but sometimes it's the only way to do what is necessary and avoid war or blame."

"What are you trying to tell me?" Gaara asked. He was beginning to feel very confused and a little frightened that she still hadn't answered his question. What was she hiding?

"All of my targets were male, Gaara. When I said my unique abilities I meant more than my clan jutsu, although that certainly was a factor. Think about it, what's the most common and easy way for a girl to get a guy alone and not be questioned?"

Gaara's face was blank - he obviously still didn't get it.

Ino sighed. There was no way around it, she'd have to just bluntly tell him - and he was going to loathe her and think of her as dirty because what man in their right mind would want a _whore_ for his wife, and then she'd _never_ have her happily ever after, but worst of all she was denying Gaara _his_ happily ever after too, and it wasn't like he'd ever done anything wrong, aside from that whole killing phase but that was in the past, and oh, she just knew he deserved more than this, more than _her_ -

"Ino?" Gaara questioned, pulling her thoughts from her downward spiral as he awkwardly placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He wasn't sure why exactly he felt the need to comfort her, but she'd drifted off into her own train of thought for a while and a silent Ino wasn't something that seemed particularly natural to him.

"Almost all of those S-ranks were seduction missions," she whispered quietly to him, twisting her shoulder out of his grip and quietly backing away a few steps. All the while she looked intensely at his face, her features showing hope and despair - mostly despair - and looking truly heart-wrenching.

Gaara's brain was racing to sort through this new information while his body stood frozen in shock. Perhaps his lack of emotions came in handy here as his face betrayed nothing of the turmoil occurring inside him and Ino was left to wait for him to speak, which gave him time, just a little bit of time, to think things through.

On the one hand, he'd just found out that his wife - the woman he was beginning to feel pretty sure he might be falling in love with, because kami knew she made him feel differently then he'd ever felt before - made people fall for her on a regular basis, as part of her _job_. Was this whole thing a lie then? Was she just like Yashimaru, pretending to care for him but completely willing to stab him in the back should the situation ask for it? Maybe she was just biding her time, waiting for an order...

That was completely ridiculous, the other side chimed in. Stop overreacting and calm down. Think this through rationally. She went on those missions to protect those she cared about - not for fun. And she obviously didn't enjoy them. That means she's loyal and dedicated, so the only way she'd kill you is if she was ordered to, and admittedly, if her leader told her to she probably would...

Exactly, we can't trust her! the first train of thought broke through again.

Rational, be rational, the second side calmed him. Finish thinking this through. The only way she'd kill you is if she was ordered to by her leader - which is _you_, you moron. She's completely one hundred percent loyal to you. You know that. She was more than willing to become a ninja of Suna, and you know her Hokage wouldn't send her here as an assassin. For starters this whole thing was your sister's idea, and Ino's one of Temari's best friends. And you trust your sister - right? And the Hokage likes Naruto, and Naruto is your best friend, and Konoha are our allies, and Kankuro likes Ino too - I can't just second guess my relationships with _everyone_, I'd be right back where I was in the beginning. What this comes down to is trust. I trust Temari, and I trust Naruto, so I'm going to have to trust Ino too. Besides, look at her, she looks so scared and vulnerable...

"Are you here to assassinate me?" Gaara asked. No! Not what he'd meant to say! And he definitely hadn't meant to sound that cold.

Ino looked at him with shock, but he could see glimmers of anger burning in her baby blue eyes.

"No!" she exclaimed. "If you're going to be that way then _fine_, see if I care! I didn't do anything wrong, I'm a ninja and I would sacrifice anything for my village and I'll be _proud _of that fact until the day that I die! If you don't like that you can just - just-"

Gaara's apparent rejection of her did wonders for Ino's self-confidence and she immediately remembered that she _wasn't_ dirty, and she was proud and even _glad_ that she had had the opportunity to perform such a service for the village and people she loved. If Gaara couldn't understand then it was his loss, but she wasn't going to act ashamed!

"Well that's alright then," Gaara said, and his hand reached out to snag Ino's arm and stop her from storming out of the tent - which she'd obviously been planning on doing. "You can't blame a guy for double-checking." And then he was _smiling_ at her, a real, happy smile - and she'd never seen him do that before.

"I'm glad you told me the truth," he confessed before leaning his head down and capturing her lips with his like he'd been dying to do ever since he'd watched her fight with Matsuri.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that an incredibly happy Ino disentangled herself from the arms of an incredibly frisky Kazekage and straightened out her shirt - apparently today had brought them closer together, as Gaara had never tried _that_ before.

"In case you were wondering, I was always able to complete the mission before things got too far," she said while smiling up at him.

Gaara just cocked his head to the side, confused.

Ino stepped closer to him once more - his arms automatically opened up for her and encircled her waist - and pressed herself against him while her lips headed for his ear.

"So I'm still a virgin," she teased in a whisper he could barely hear, but her breathe tickled his neck and she quickly bit down gently on his ear lobe before pulling away and darting gracefully out of the tent, her laughter echoing back to the ears of a stunned and completely frozen (and very red) Kazekage.

So? Definitely more GaaraxIno interaction in this chapter, right? It felt so natural to write for once I wasn't worried I was taking things too fast... anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chapter will probably be longer, but we'll see...and then we're pretty much done, either one more chapter after that or a chapter and an epilogue, again depending on how much wrapping up I want to do... Reviews are appreciated.


	10. The Academy

AN: Sorry it took me so incredibly long to post this. I'm not sure I really like how I did the ending, but it'll do for now. I know I keep saying only a chapter or two left, but I actually expected this chapter to incorporate more, so who knows now. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 9: The Academy

Gaara lay propped up on his side, silently watching the blonde woman next to him sleep contentedly. This had become his new routine; falling asleep with Ino meant waking up before her – and he loved watching her for those few hours when she was all his. Of course, he did have work he ought to be doing, and he did it – sometimes.

Truth be told Gaara had not been as conscious towards his duties as the Kazekage of late. Before he met Ino his responsibility to the village had been all that Gaara lived for, and that was no longer the case. So now he had others who helped review documents and process paperwork. He had hired various people and placed them in charge of overseeing different aspects of the village. Ironically, the village ran better than ever. Okay, perhaps it wasn't really irony, but it seemed that way to him. All the time he had spent worrying about the village, and it got along better without him. Big surprise. Maybe that was why he had been so reluctant to delegate his authority before – the knowledge that Sunagakure would be just fine without him would have left him with absolutely nothing. Now the thought filled him with a sort of contented gladness. Then again, now he had her.

It was then that Ino began to slowly stir into wakefulness besides him. Every morning was the same. She would wake up and the first thing she would do would be look to make sure Gaara was still beside her. The sight of him watching her with a look of tenderness in his eyes made her smile and the fact that his presence made her happy was all Gaara wanted to know. This morning was no different.

"Hello," she said sleepily, still smiling at him.

"Hi," he said as he reached his hand out to brush her hair out of her face. "Are you ready for today?"

"Hmm?" She sighed, nuzzling her cheek into his hand.

Now that really wasn't helping. There was something that Gaara had wanted for a while now, but hadn't been sure how to go about it. He'd talked to Kankuro – who whatever else he may be definitely knew how to get a woman into bed – and decided that tonight he'd take her out for a celebratory dinner and see how things went. Of course, he really wasn't sure at all how Ino would feel about this, but moments like this one made him yearn for her more than she could possibly begin to imagine.

"For the Academy," he clarified, not wanting to end the moment but knowing that he must.

Ino froze. For the past two months she had been undergoing training and today was the day that she would finally meet her class and begin her career as an Academy instructor.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she screeched at her husband before jumping out of bed and running franticly around the room. Gaara watched her with a bemused expression before she disappeared into the bathroom to shower and change. His wife really was quite entertaining. Fortunately he had predicted her reaction and showered before she woke up. He headed placidly down the stairs. He had decided this morning while watching her sleep that he was going to make her breakfast. After all, she made him breakfast all the time, and really, it didn't look that complicated.

-­--

Ino emerged from the shower dressed and ready to face whatever the day saw fit to throw at her. At least, that's what she thought until she smelled the smoke. Rushing out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen she was greeted with copious amounts of smoke and a panicked looking Gaara who was frantically fanning whatever was on the stove. Hurrying through the kitchen (and coughing on the way) Ino wrenched the frying pan out of Gaara's hands and took it to the sink. A few minutes of running it under cold water and the smoking stopped. The window she had instructed Gaara to open provided an escape route for the smoke, and so the room had mostly cleared. Warily eyeing the soggy black mess in the sink Ino attempted to identify its previous state. It was futile.

"What were you doing?" she asked, exasperated and confused.

"Making breakfast?" Gaara said a little timidly.

"Breakfast?" Ino asked as she eyed the unrecognizable substance in the sink. She looked at her husband. "What exactly?"

"Scrambled eggs," he confessed, refusing to look her in the eye. Instead Gaara became quite fascinated with the grains in the floorboards.

Ino held in a snort of laughter. Then gave up and collapsed on the floor, laughing uncontrollably in a heap.

"You-you – ha!"

Now Gaara was torn. On the one hand hearing Ino laugh was always an enjoyable experience, even if at present it was more of a cackle – or maybe a screech? On the other hand, he wasn't entirely certain he appreciated being mocked, especially in such a blatantly obvious manner, by his wife.

He settled on using his sand to help his wife upright and hold her before him as he glared her into silence. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect and caused Ino's laughter to continue for a good ten minutes before she was finally able to calm down.

"Sorry," she sighed wiping tears out of her eye. "It was just – oh, I can't explain it, go sit down and I'll bring you breakfast."

Sulking, Gaara did as he was told.

Noticing the brooding silence coming from her husband, Ino giggled once more.

"Cheer up, I appreciate the thought. And laughter really is the best way to start the day! Besides, how about this? If you can go into work a little later on Saturday I'll start teaching you how to cook."

Gaara perked up and nodded his head in assent as Ino slid a plate with buttered bread and scrambled eggs in front of him before plopping a jar of his favourite raspberry jam down and taking her seat across from him.

Comfortable silence filled the kitchen as the two hastily ate in preparation for their day.

"Are you going to drop me off on the way to work?" Ino asked as Gaara slipped their dishes into the sink where they would wait until this evening.

"Do you want me to?" he asked, this was a little unexpected.

Ino only nodded mutely, her eyes sparkling with hope.

Gaara sighed. He was already late for work, a couple more minutes couldn't hurt, right?

He nodded and held out his arm – which she eagerly latched on to – and they exited their home.

"Do you mind if I picked you up after work?" he asked hesitantly as they neared the Academy.

"I'd love it," Ino reassured, locking her gaze with his.

"I figured we could go out to eat – er, sort of like a celebration of a successful first day?"

"How do you know it will be successful?" A hint of nervousness in her voice hinted at the unsettling butterflies that were swirling in her stomach.

"Because I'm the Kazekage," he teased. The frown on her face made him add, "You'll be wonderful," in a reassuring manner, his gaze still not leaving hers.

She smiled at him and stood on her tiptoes to peck him on the cheek. Gaara swiftly turned his head and caught her lips turning it into what was – in his mind – a proper kiss.

"You forgot that before we left," he hinted, smirking a little.

Ino blushed faintly and smiled at him before turning away and heading towards the Academy. Gaara started the walk to the Kazekage tower, planning on just enjoying the feeling of his village.

That notion was trampled when he noticed how all the children still avoided him. Spending time with Ino – who seemed to accept him so easily – always made him forget that the villagers were still scared of him, no matter how much they respected him. It was always worse with children, those who'd left the Academy usually had a better sense of what it meant to be a ninja and were able to accept him more. But children, those twelve and under, tended to avoid him like the bogeyman. Hurt, though he would never admit it, Gaara gave up on walking and transported himself directly to his office. It was probably better that way anyway, he was running late.

--

Ino looked out at her class before nervously clearing her throat. Be confident, she reminded herself. Be confident and sure and you'll win their respect.

"Hi! I'm your new sensei, Ino Yamanaka. I'll learn all your names as the day progresses I'm sure, but right now I'm just wondering if you had any questions for me before we started?" she said cheerily.

The room was filled with raised arms in an instant. Ino nodded her head at one of the children – a stocky brown-haired boy who looked remarkably self-confident for a ten year old.

"Is it true you beat the Kazekage in a fight?" he asked curiously, eyeing her in obvious disbelief.

Ino narrowed her eyes at the boy. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Katimara Tazo," he said proudly.

"Well Tazo, I did beat Gaara – er the Kazekage – in a spar, but it wasn't a physical fight. Never forget that there are multiple levels to every battle."

Tazo looked confused and Ino said a silent prayer of gratitude to Shikamaru for giving her this exact same lecture.

"Are you really the Kazekage's wife?" a red-headed girl asked in disbelief. Ino held back a giggle – something about this girl just reminded her of herself as a child.

"Yes," Ino answered with a smile. She looked out at the crowd expecting to see – well, she wasn't sure what but not the fear tinged awe that she saw present in the children's faces.

"What?" she asked, confused,

"Isn't he – like – a monster?" the red-head said bluntly. Ino gaped at the girl in shock, inwardly seething. How dare she? She took back her earlier thought; she was never that rude or disrespectful as a child. Was she?

"What makes you say that?" she asked, assuming an innocent face of honest confusion. Gaara had been nothing but sweet and gentle with her, and she refused to let people speak of him like that. Ever.

"Well, uh," these ten year olds had never been told the reason Gaara was still feared, and they had been too young when Gaara was possessed to remember. Their parents, out of respect for their now undemonized Kazekage, had not told their children his past. However, the fear itself had still been passed on.

Ino felt an ache in her chest as she realized what Gaara still had to deal with, even now. It was no wonder it had taken him so long to open up to her. And she was grateful, so very grateful that he had.

"Exactly. Your Kazekage is an extremely powerful man, but he is also kind, and good, and he would die for any one of you," Ino said as she fixed a stare that bordered on glare onto her class.

Meekly submitting to Ino's forceful will the entire room bowed their heads with guilt. And that was all it took to appease Ino's anger. After all, it wasn't exactly their fault.

"Besides," she said in her former, cheerful tone, "he's really just like a big teddy bear."

Her wide grin was met with looks of complete disbelief. Ino however remained unfazed. "You'll see. He's coming after class today!"

Her class was unable to think of anything to say to that, and so they sat there, stunned.

"That's it for questions then? Great. On with the lesson!" she said exuberantly.

--

"Why not?" Kankuro asked his little brother. Gaara had been discussing his plan to – er – seduce – his wife this evening, and somehow Kankuro had turned it into a discussion about having a family. It wasn't so much that he didn't want to have a family with Ino, it was just that, well, wasn't it a little bit too soon to be thinking about that? He wanted Ino all to himself, was there anything wrong with that?

Besides, having children would mean that there would be kids in his home. His home had become his sanctuary, he didn't particularly want little brats running around who were terrified of him and would remind him of a past he was trying desperately to both atone for and forget.

"It's a bit too soon to be thinking of that yet," Gaara said authoritatively before vanishing from his office and the awkward conversation he no longer wished to be a part of.

He had been intending to leave the office a little later, that way he could avoid the children at the school. Not too late of course, he hadn't wanted Ino to think he'd forgotten her, but late enough to avoid the bulk of the students.

Resigned to the inevitably of arriving at the Academy while it was filled with departing students Gaara reappeared outside of Ino's classroom door. Drawing in a deep breath to calm his nerves he schooled his features and stance into their usual unemotional look. It was too easy to open up around Ino, and he couldn't afford to show weakness in front of all the children – he was their Kazekage after all.

Opening the door Gaara was shocked to see a barrage of kunai and shuriken flying directly at his wife...

The scene registered in an instant, and Gaara reacted instinctively to the danger that was threatening the woman he loved.

Sand flooded from his gourd encasing Ino in a protective sphere even as Gaara stormed into the room, his sand armor protecting him from any weapons that would have pierced his body as he walked unflinchingly in front of Ino.

He gazed fiercely and angrily into the crowd of students who all flinched back into their seats, cowering in fear.

Silence and stillness reigned for a moment, until it was broken by a muffled yell.

"Let me out!" Ino protested loudly.

"No," Gaara said firmly, still surveying the students and looking for any potential threats.

"Why the hell not?" she shrieked. Even through the sand the entire room flinched at her volume.

"Your students were attacking you, this is not a safe environment."

A dramatic sigh was followed by Ino explaining in a slightly calmer manner, "It's fine Gaara, I told them to attack me."

"You told your students to attack you?" he asked in obvious disbelief.

"Yes, look, I'll explain it to you as soon as you let me OUT," and her voice reached its previous ear-shattering volume.

"No," Gaara said, still calmly.

"LET ME OUT! I told you they won't attack."

Gaara only snorted. "That's hardly the issue anymore. If you are stupid enough to tell a room full of shinobi to attack you I should probably keep you back there permanently for your own protection."

"Gaara I swear that if you do not release me right now I will make you wish you had never been born."

The Kazekage remained unfazed. "I will not let you out until you promise to never again behave in such an asinine manner."

Silence.

"Fine," Ino snapped childishly.

The sand immediately returned to Gaara's gourd and a revealed a fuming Ino, fist still raised from where she had obviously been attacking the inside of her sand prison.

When Ino was freed from the clutches of her deranged husband – seriously, who does that? – she paused for a moment to take stock of the surrounding room. Her students were still cowering in fear, but many of them were also unable to hide smirks at their teacher's predicament. She'd had them throw weapons at her to prove that there was more to being a good shinobi then attacking, and she'd made her point quite well…until Gaara had interrupted.

She would have berated him on that point, but seeing the terror on her students' faces reminded her of the empathy she felt for her husband.

On the other hand, showing that she wasn't afraid of him might do wonders for the students. Making up her mind Ino whirled on her husband, silent fury simmering in her eyes.

"Just _what_ exactly did you think you were doing?" she demanded.

Gaara was slightly taken aback. "Uhh-"

"You can't just interrupt my lessons you know," she continued.

"Yes I can. I'm the Kazekage," he reminded her.

"Well – ah – As the Kazekage you should have a good reason for interrupting my lesson."

"You were being attacked."

"No I WASN'T!"

"Well that was how it appeared to me."

"Do you not think I can handle myself?" Ino asked, eyes widening in feigned innocence and hurt. Actually, know that she'd had time to think it over, it was kind of cute that Gaara was so willing to protect her – as long as he knew she didn't need it.

Gaara stared into her big blue eyes, losing himself in their depths. Forgetting that he was in front of a classroom full of students, forgetting that he was angry with her for putting herself in danger, he stepped closer to her and pulled her into a warm hug.

"I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you," he whispered in her ear.

Ino melted.

The classroom full of students were all training to be shinobi, so the fact that Gaara had whispered did not affect their ability to hear them. Needless to say, they were shocked. The Kazekage was behaving like a man in love, not like the emotionless ice block he'd always seemed before!

"Ahem," a girly voice coughed, interrupting the moment between Ino and her husband. Guiltily, Gaara and Ino pulled apart. Gaara directed a glare at the red-headed girl who had made Ino pull away, but she just snickered at him.

"Class dismissed," Ino said, scooping her coat out of her chair and pulling Gaara out the door in one smooth motion.

It was Gaara's turn to be shocked. That little girl had laughed at him! He couldn't believe that Ino's student was so disrespectful… wait a moment. She'd laughed at him! Gaara repressed to the urge to crow his elation into the night air. She'd laughed at him and she wasn't afraid!

--

Gaara and Ino were comfortably seated in a private room at a very nice restaurant – Kankuro had recommended it. Ino hadn't wanted to come in, claiming she wasn't dressed right, but he'd persuaded her. Feeling very pleased with himself he watched Ino surveying the food spread before them with awe.

Noticing his gaze she looked up from the table and smiled at him, a warm smile full of genuine happiness and caring.

"Thank-you," she whispered. Then her smile flashed into a wicked grin and she stood up, rounded the table, and plunked herself down next to her red-headed husband. She quickly grabbed some food in her chopsticks before proffering it to Gaara.

Hesitantly he bent his mouth down and took the offered food. Ino quickly repeated the action, and he eventually got the hang of it. She would feed him a piece, and then he would feed her. It was actually rather nice… Kankuro had been right when he'd told him to let Ino take the lead. She really was much better at this kind of thing.

"You know," Ino said, smiling as she held a mushroom out for him. "When you first offered me the post of an Academy teacher I thought you were only doing it to keep me from leaving Suna because you still didn't think I could take care of myself."

Gaara almost choked on the mushroom. Fortunately, Ino was too wrapped up in what she was saying to notice.

"I guess I'm trying to say sorry for thinking that about you. It's just hard with you being so incredibly strong, and me just being, well, me. I mean, I know I can take care of myself and that I'm a good ninja, but you're just so powerful. And I want you to respect me," she finished lamely, trying to voice her feelings on the inequality of their marriage.

"Are you serious?" he asked her, bewildered. He continued before she had time to respond. "You're worried about what I think of _you_? You're the one who everybody likes, the one strong enough to gain the respect of the most powerful shinobi in your village. I can manipulate vast amounts of sand and kill people in an instant, so what? When has that done any good for anyone? You help people, you make people care about you…you helped me, you made me care about you," he admitted.

Ino's eyes widened in surprise. Sure, she'd suspected the Kazekage was beginning to feel something for her (she wasn't stupid), but she had never expected him to openly _admit_ his feelings, it just wasn't in his nature.

"I love you too," she said quietly back, snuggling her head into his chest as she leaned against him.

Gaara froze in shock, could she really? The bubble of happiness that had been growing all evening was getting so big he thought he might burst.

"And I'm glad you weren't just trying to keep me in Suna. Akina – you know, she teaches the class below mine – told me about the field trip tomorrow."

"Field trip?" Gaara asked dazedly. Honestly, he wasn't really sure what she was saying. She _loved _him, and right now nothing else seemed to matter.

"Yes, the one to see the fortifications of Sunagakure. Where we take our classes outside the walls."

Gaara's bubble of elation disappeared and was replaced with a cold, desperate, slimy feeling.

"What?" he said coldly, pulling away from Ino to look her in the eye.

"The field trip," she said confused. "Every year the students in the Academy go-"

"I know about the field trip," he said simply. "I just…I didn't realize it was now."

"Really? Well I personally am excited. I've never seen the fortifications. I was a bit preoccupied when I first got here and I haven't been allowed outside the walls since."

"You're not going," he said.

"What?" Ino asked, shocked.

"You're not going," he said again. "I can't bear to lose you Ino," he pleaded.

"You know that excuse is getting awfully old," she said, standing and grabbing her coat. "I'm going home, and tomorrow I'm taking my class on that field trip."

"No you're not," he said, standing as well as his sand started to pour from the gourd he'd left by the door.

She turned and stared him down – an impressive feat. "Gaara I am going on this trip and I swear to you that if you stop me I will never _ever_ forgive you."

Torn, Gaara had no choice but to let her go. It was ironic really, the one thing he felt he absolutely had to keep safe was the only thing he couldn't protect. He'd never felt more worthless or more broken. Despair, deeper even then he'd felt at the betrayal of Yashimaru, coursed through his body as he sank back to the floor.

* * *

Oh, you all knew it was coming. There are still some issues these two need to work out. Reviews are loved!


	11. The Field Trip

AN: Wow, I'm spewing these out today. You might even get one more before the day is done...or not, we'll see. Hopefully this chapter isn't too confusing to read, and you all like it. Action isn't really my thing.

Oh, and yes, those are tears running down Gaara's face in a few lines. Remember that this chapter and the previous one are after a two month time gap, and Gaara has really started to change - at least with regards to Ino - and he doesn't know how to deal with all these emotions, they are quite new to him, hence the tears.

I received an excellent review ( I really do love constructive criticism) that pointed out that Ino should have developed more relationships then just with Gaara. She has, in case any of you were wondering. They just aren't the point of this story. So they get no screen time. She's actually pretty good friends with Akina, the teacher who told her about the field trip, and Choko - another instructor. Then there's also her relationship with Temari, and they were friends before so they are even closer now that they live in the same village. Things between Kankuro and her were awkward at first, as their relationship was based on flirting before, but now their very close and use friendly banter instead of outright flirting. It works. There's also several jounin she's close to and trains with - most of whom are male. Gaara wasn't thrilled, but Ino and Kankuro managed to persuade him to let it be. And of course various villagers, the one who runs the flower shop, the owner of her favourite cafe that she likes to go to for lunch, etc. Okay? But most of it's probably not going to be in this story, as I'm trying to make it more about Ino and Gaara.

**Chapter 10**: The Field Trip

Gaara had gone to Kankuro's house to spend the night – to his older brother's chagrin. The puppeteer had had high hopes for Gaara and Ino – but seeing the completely broken look on Gaara's face made it blatantly clear that it was not to be.

Had Ino refused Gaara's advances? Somehow that didn't seem likely. It had been clear to Kankuro and Temari that Ino was quite smitten with their little brother.

"What happened?" a stupefied Kankuro had asked.

"She's going," was all Gaara had gotten out before turning away in shame as tears coursed their way down his cheek.

This of course caused Kankuro to jump to many conclusions – all of which were incorrect.

"You're just letting her go?" he asked in shock.

"I – I don't know what to do. She said she'd never forgive me if I went after her."

Now Kankuro was just confused. Didn't girls normally go because they wanted you to go after them? "Gaara, I'm going to need you to start from the beginning and tell me what happened."

--

Ino awoke the next morning, bright and refreshed. Okay, so maybe that's a bit of a lie. She hadn't been able to fall asleep for the majority of the night, and when she did she was wracked with nightmares. The truth of the matter is that she was in love with Gaara –head over heels in love – but she couldn't be in a relationship with someone who refused to acknowledge her own abilities.

Perhaps she had been too hard on him – she knew his past and how hard it had been for him to open up to her at all – but Ino had never been particularly good at keeping quiet. Besides, she'd gotten her point across, right? Gaara was letting her go on the trip – which was good because she really wouldn't have forgiven him if he'd tried to control her – and when she came back safe and sound he'd see that she had been right…

So why did she feel like she'd just kicked a puppy?

--

Gaara stood sullenly at the gates of Suna where Ino would soon be making her reappearance. Last nights talk with Kankuro had helped him a little bit, and if she did indeed come back safe and sound then he supposed they could just put this all in the past. But if she had so much as a scratch on her he would kill her himself. Who did she think she was, making him worry like this? The day was drawing to a close now…where was she?

There was a gnawing feeling in the middle of Gaara's stomach that had been growing steadily worse throughout the day. He knew Ino could take care of herself, he just didn't want her to have to. Besides, he knew he could take care of her better…why didn't she understand that if something were to happen to her he could never, ever forgive himself. He loved her –yes, he was admitting it to himself now. He loved her and she'd become his sole reason for existing. Without her he would be empty…

--

Where was she? The question was panicked now instead of impatient. Ino should have been back fifteen minutes ago, if not earlier. All the other classes had come back a few hours ago, but he supposed Ino would take all the time outside she could get, just to show him that she could. Kankuro and Temari had come to wait with him at the gate – Gaara was pretty sure they were just there to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

Just when Gaara was about to go looking for her he saw a group of people heading at full speed to the doors. He relaxed visibly; she was coming back to him.

The sense of relief evaporated when he noticed the terrified and exhausted look on the student's faces. His eyes frantically searched for Ino's form, looking desperately for a hint of her long, blonde hair, only to realize that she was not among the approaching group.

"Where is she?" he asked, and his voice was both menacing and terrifying.

Temari wrapped her arm around him in a one-armed hugged. "Gaara, just wait until the students get back, okay? Then we can find out what happened."

The next few minutes were the longest of Gaara's life as he waited 'patiently' for the students to enter the gates. The red-headed girl who'd laughed at him the other day caught his gaze, and ran up to him, gasping for breath.

"Kazekage-sama," she began.

"Where's Ino?" Gaara demanded.

"I – I don't know, I'm sorry," she said, a little frightened by the killer intent coming from Gaara.

"What happened?" Kankuro asked gently, kneeling down and placing one hand on her shoulder.

"We – we were attacked," she said, tears pouring down her face.

--

After looking at the fortifications Ino asked her class if they wanted to spend the rest of the day outside. Of course the answer was yes, and so she organized a game of capture the flag and then stepped back to watch from the sidelines. This would be a good chance for her to see how her students worked, and she would even have some time to look at the various plants that grew in the desert. Of course, there weren't many, and they weren't exactly pretty, but they still interested her.

Watching her students was also quite interesting. She hadn't really thought about it before, but capture the flag definitely worked better in the forest…all well, it was quite amusing this way. Besides some of her students had some very clever ideas.

Her amusement was disrupted as she abruptly realized that they were being watched. Unfortunately, by then she was too late.

They were surrounded by a group of ten men, who were quickly closing in on her and her class, herding them together. Ino quickly called her students to her, cutting of any thoughts they may have had about attacking. Once her class was safely gathered around her Ino began weighing her opponents. Most of them were probably only chunin, but she could identify at least two that were jounin level or higher. One of them was obviously the leader and was stepping forward to address the group.

Ino's mind was racing. She was fairly certain that she could take on all ten of these men…her class outnumbered them even if their skill was less and surely she could use that to her advantage…

On the other hand she was equally certain that many of her students would be injured, and some dead, by the end of that particular fight. And her student's safety was her first concern.

"Don't even think about trying to fight back," Ino warned her students. "And trust me," she added as an afterthought. "I'll get you all out, I promise."

"What do you want?" Ino asked the leader before he had a chance to say anything himself.

An annoyed look crossed the dark-haired man's face at being cut off. "Well, if it isn't the little Ino Yamanaka," he said maliciously

Ino froze. How did this man know her name? His head band identified him as a grass-nin, and she was virtually unknown outside of Konoha.

"I hear you've moved up in the world. Married to the Kazekage now, aren't you? I suppose that means you're more valuable to us if we don't kill you. You should be grateful, our original orders were much more – interesting."

"Who are you?" she demanded, trying desperately to keep her voice from wavering with fear.

"I'm disappointed you don't remember me," he grinned. "Then again I suppose I wasn't really the one you were worried about back then, were you?"

Ino was wracking her mind, desperately trying to figure out where she had met this man before. He did seem vaguely familiar… grass country…when had she been to the grass nation?

Oh. Right. Damn it, she should have known that would come back to haunt her! She recognized him now, from his greasy hair to his hideous face… He had been in her way on one of her first seduction missions. She had been unwilling to kill anyone except her target back then - she had been too young and naïve! This man had compromised her identity, so she had led him on – and on and on, until one night he had cornered her in her tent and she had knocked him unconscious before going on to kill the target and disappear.

She cringed. Looking back she couldn't believe how many loose ends she had left. After a few years of no attacks she had assumed that he was to embarrassed to tell what had happened and that she was home free. Apparently, that was not the case.

"You," she gasped, wide-eyed.

"Yes, me," he said, a trifle dramatically and Ino couldn't hold in a snicker at the sight of him posturing. But then she remembered that despite his insipid character this man was an excellent shinobi – and more than a match for her.

"What do you want?" she demanded, trying to by some time as she figured out how exactly to put her plan into action. It was risky, but if it worked all of her students would get away safely. Besides, she'd spent a month leading this man on, so she knew how he thought.

"I thought I'd made that clear," he sneered. "We want you."

"What for?"

"Well, first it was to torture you and drag you back to our Lord's wife – she was quite put out with you when I told her what I knew. Of course, we still didn't know who you were, but when the invitations to the Kazekage's wedding came around I recognized your face. After all, how could I ever forget something so lovely…" his hand reached out to touch her cheek, but Ino jerked backwards in horror.

"You being the Kazekage's wife made everything so much more interesting," he continued. "Killing you wouldn't be nearly as much fun as holding you for ransom and then exposing you to him as a fraud. I suppose the Leaf is using you to manipulate the Kazekage? Imagine how he'll feel when he finds out the truth. And who will be his greatest allies then? Besides, I'm sure any death he comes up with for you will be so much more entertaining then we could imagine on our own."

Here he looked at Ino's face, expecting to see shock, horror, despair, and fear. He wasn't expecting her to have disappeared in the middle of his long-winded speech. His men hadn't either, if the stupefied looks on their faces was any indication. Then again, most of them were worthless anyway.

"Daiki!" Hachiro (that was his name, Ino recollected in a flash from her hiding place) ordered. Gather the children together and escort them back to the base. Take one other with you. The rest of us will look for Yamanaka."

Daiki nodded his head at the man next to him and they set off, herding the children between them.

The students were terrified. Apparently their sensei had done something that really ticked of the boss man. Then again, she had told them not to fight and to trust her…

While her students debated the pros and cons of actually listening to their teacher the group had slowly made their way away from the main group – soon they were out of sight, and hearing range.

And that was when all hell broke loose.

Daiki, obviously the stronger of the two, and the only other of jounin level in the group aside from Hachiro, suddenly attacked his companion, easily running him through with the blade of his huge sword.

"Run," he hissed at the children.

"Wh-who are you and why are you helping us?" a panicked Tazo had asked.

"It's me, Ino. Don't ask how just run!"

And the children did. They ran back to Suna. Only Akahana, the nosy red-head, stayed to watch Daiki slit his own throat before turning and catching up with her class.

--

It wasn't difficult for Hachiro and his men to locate Ino's unconscious body below the ground where she had hidden it. After all, there hadn't really been anywhere else for her to go. So even without being able to locate her chakra signature her body was dug out and bound in a matter of minutes.

When Ino came to after ensuring that her students got away – she was not afraid of anyone going after them now, she was their main target after all – the first thing she registered was that she couldn't move. Well that was going to make things more interesting. Perhaps more importantly, she was bound with a chain that appeared to be absorbing her chakra at a slow but steady rate.

Truth be told she was rather amazed that her earlier plan had worked. She'd had to set the earth jutsu in motion, but not release it until just after she'd sent her conscious into the other man's conscious. And she'd guessed correctly that he would be the one Hachiro sent. Ino couldn't help but give herself a mental pat on the back.

At least until Hachiro stuck his ugly mug in front of her face. "Well look how the mighty have fallen," he leered. "Bet you wouldn't refuse me now… well you probably would but it wouldn't matter seeing as how you're all tied up, would it?"

Ino couldn't hide the shudder or the look of repulsion that crossed her face. Fortunately for Ino Hachiro had his orders. He contented himself with spitting on her where she lay on the ground and then turning and walking away.

"I'd be nicer, if I were you. My Lady may just decide to let me have you after all. And pretty soon the bindings will have eaten up most of your chakra – so maybe you should cooperate so we reach her before you die, hm?" he said to her, not even bothering to cast a final glance in her direction. "We start out tomorrow, and we should reach the rest of the group within a few days. Just enough time for you, if you hurry."

Ino lay there, her mind racing as she fought the dizziness that was the side-effect of the constant loss of chakra. A few days…she'd figure out how to escape after she got some sleep…

* * *

This whole kidnapping thing really is necessary to the plot, I'm afraid. Otherwise I'd avoid it like the plague.

Questions? Comments? Review!


	12. The Prisoner

AN: haha, another chapter. Okay, the reason for all the fast updating is very simple. See, when I originally outlined this story all of these past chapters - from The Academy to the chapter following this one (The Reunion) were all one chapter. I just got a little more into detail then I originally planned...although it's probably good I did. Anyways, so I had it all planned out, because I usually only plan one chapter ahead of time, but this all seemed like one chapter, make sense? I actually have chapter 12 done too, but I'm going to hold it back for a little just because I think I've overloaded you a bit, and it's a nice cliffhanger at the end here (insert evil laughter).

**Chapter 11:** The Prisoner

Gaara had wanted to set out after Ino immediately. As it was he had only been held back a few minutes in order to officially put Temari in charge while he and Kankuro went after Ino and her captors. Akahana had said there were ten men, at least two of which Ino had already taken care of. Gaara and Kankuro would be more than their match even if they had met up with reinforcements, as Temari had suggested they might – Gaara was confident he could take down an army, if it meant saving Ino. Why hadn't she just listened to him?

There were others who had offered to join them of course. Ino had made quite an impact on the village in the short time she'd been there. Other instructors at the Academy and many of the jounin she'd taken to sparring with on a regular occasion all expressed an eagerness to help. Gaara had refused. He'd move faster by himself. And, as Kankuro had reminded him, this could be a trap to draw their best fighters out of Suna, leaving it weakened and defenseless.

So Gaara and Kankuro had set off, following the student's trail. In their panic the children had gotten a little lost, so the tracks were winding and it had taken Gaara longer then he would have liked to reach the dead bodies of Daiki and his companion. After that it was a short run to where the ambush had been set up – but there the trail ran cold. Whoever had kidnapped Ino had been very careful to cover their tracks, and Gaara and Kankuro had reached a dead end.

"I'm no going back," a frustrated Gaara said resolutely. "Not without her."

"I'm not asking you to Gaara," Kankuro said gently. "She was my friend too. We'll find her, don't worry. It'll just take a little longer."

"What if she doesn't have a little longer?" Gaara asked, worried.

"Gaara, I know you have a hard time accepting this, but Ino can take care of herself," Kankuro reminded him.

"I know that," Gaara said. "But so can I, and that didn't stop me from dying, did it?"

Kankuro didn't know how to respond to that, so instead he just started circling outwards from the ambush, looking for a clue – anything to tell them which way Ino had gone.

--

Ino was currently undergoing what was probably going to be the worst day of her life. Her hands were tied behind her back, and her feet were hobbled so that even if she did manage to break free, she wouldn't exactly be able to run anywhere. Add to that the fact that these bindings continued to slowly drain her chakra and you get one miserable and incredibly bitchy Ino.

Of course Ino wasn't the type to keep her feelings to self, so her captors' day wasn't going much better. She'd yelled at them, screamed at them, kicked, bitten, scratched and hindered their progress any way that she could.

At least until Hachiro – the scumbag – had reminded her that she was on a time limit as much as them.

Then she'd turned positively rabid. Afraid to get to close they prodded her onwards with spears, forcing her to continue their never-ending trek across the desert.

Ino, being Ino, was trying desperately to work out a plan to escape. Where was Shikamaru when she needed him anyway? She considered possessing an animal and sending it to Gaara for help, but unlike her team mates he didn't know her jutsu's capabilities that well and probably wouldn't get it. Besides, the amount of chakra it took to support that sort of long-distance connection would probably kill her while she was trapped in these blasted bindings. Anyways, unlike in Konoha, there weren't really any animals up to the task in this stupid desert.

All she knew was that whatever she tried, it had to be tonight, before they got any further from Suna and any closer to the group Hachiro was trying to meet up with.

At the end of the day, Ino collapsed under the tent that her watch-guard had kindly set up for her. It was time to escape she decided, even if her plan was only half-baked at best.

"Kano," she called out. That was the name of her guard.

He only grunted in response.

"Kano," she said again, injecting her voice with just the right amount of sweetness. "I'm really really thirsty. Do you think you could bring me a drink? If it's not too much trouble."

Kano was a hulking brute, whose mental capacity probably equaled that of a squirrel. Okay, that was unfair. Squirrels were smarter. He was also not incredibly attractive. He was better looking than Hachiro, but still not a good specimen of male beauty.

This was good. He'd be flattered that Ino was coming onto him, and too stupid to realize why. He was her favourite type of male – well, at least when she was on a mission.

She heard him get up from outside the door of her tent – he was under strict orders not to enter it – and walk off. Hopefully to get her water.

--

After over twenty-four hours of circling around the area of the ambush, with their circles getting wider every time, Kankuro finally stumbled over a clue. Well, maybe it was a clue, maybe it wasn't, but he was exhausted and he and Gaara both needed some sign that she hadn't just disappeared of the face of the planet. So he continued to look around the area for more signs as he waited for Gaara to meet up with him – they each took half a circle so Gaara would be coming from the opposite direction

Whether that first indentation had in fact been part of a footprint or not – it was difficult to tell with how the wind constantly blew the sand around – Kankuro was grateful he had noticed it. He projected a path from the ambush site and – assuming they were going straight – he took a bit of a stroll down where they should have been heading.

"Gaara!" he yelled, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice, even though it was fatigued.

Fortunately, Gaara was in hearing distance and he came racing towards his older brother.

"Look," Kankuro pointed.

There in the sand were two clear footprints. Neither was sure how they had managed to remain – although they were in the shade of a dune, so maybe that had kept the wind off of them? Maybe they didn't even belong to the people who had kidnapped Ino, but after a quick meeting of eyes and a nod both shinobi went racing off in the direction they were pointed, hoping against hope to reach Ino soon.

--

Ino quickly twisted around in the tent, maneuvering herself so her back was towards the door. It was difficult to manage with her legs bound and her hands tied behind her back, but she did it nonetheless. She waited patiently, praying to whatever gods were listening that Kano actually had gone to get her water, and not just moved out of hearing distance for the night.

Her prayer was answered. Not five more minutes had passed when she heard him move in front of the tent flap, and then stand still, confused. Damn, she'd been hoping he would forget his order and bring the water in.

"Kano? Is that you?" she asked, putting a tremor of fear in her voice. "Did you get me some water?"

A grunt was her only reply.

"Could you bring it in for me? I'm all tied up and won't be able to hold the cup myself," she said helplessly.

A moment of silence passed while Kano's slow brain processed her request before the tent flap slowly opened and his hulking form lumbered in.

Perfect, she thought, before silently falling forward so her hands would (hopefully) frame Kano and performing the shintenshin no jutsu.

Like everything Ino had tried lately, it was a risky gamble. Missing was a possibility, but not likely when one realized that Kano's massive girth filled the entire doorway to the tent.

Success! Ino mentally cheered when she found herself inside a larger, standing body looking down at her own unconscious body. Quickly she released the bindings before thinking a moment about whether or not she should kill Kano, or simply knock him out. He had allowed her to escape – albeit unknowingly. But still, leaving loose ends is what started this all in the first place…

Well, she could always do that – she efficiently made a few modifications to his mind – effectively stopping him from being able to breathe, and then exited before he collapsed from lack of oxygen. Coming to and looking at his writhing body she wasn't really certain why she'd thought that would be more humane, but then she shrugged it off and tried to stand.

Damn, that whole exercise had taken too much chakra. Resolutely pulling herself up onto her hands and knees, Ino began to slowly but surely crawl out of the tent and away from the camp.

If she'd had the chakra, she would have taken them out, but she didn't and so she settled for escaping instead.

Just when she was sure she was free and clear, she heard a clamor being raised in the distance – back at the camp she'd crawled away from. They must have noticed she'd gone missing. She could only pray that the wind had taken care of her tracks, but in this still night it didn't seem likely. Still, she did the only thing she could and continued crawling onwards.

--

It hadn't taken Gaara and Kankuro much running before they saw a camp in the distance. Gaara hid a grin, he hadn't expected Ino to make it easy for them to push her around. Now, as long as she was still alive…

They continued racing towards the camp, Gaara already calling up the sands of the desert to crush any who opposed…

The entire camp was obliterated in moments, but there was no sign of Ino. A quick survey of the area showed that someone had gone crawling off – but they were headed down the same route the kidnappers had been going. Ino was going in the wrong direction.

--

Ino, becoming more dazed and disoriented with each passing minute, barely registered that she was approaching a large, loud group of people. When the information finally sunk in she froze, but once again she was too late.

Looking up she saw the faces of several shinobi looking at her in shock, but it didn't take long for the shock to twist into malicious leers as they slowly advanced towards her. Unable to defend herself Ino simply remained seated…a part of her couldn't believe that this was really the end, that after all she'd been through she'd now be captured and used and killed. Of course Gaara wouldn't pay the ransom, she was a shinobi and if they were captured they died, and she knew that that was how it should be.

So it came as an incredible shock to her system when she saw sand crawl up the bodies of her attackers, before brutally squeezing them until they exploded – the sight made her throw up. She caught a glimpse of a crazed looking Gaara stride purposefully past her, his arms raised as he caused the entire camp to sink into the ground. Kankuro was next to her, his hand rubbing her back as she threw up – well, nothing as she hadn't eaten in over a day, but her body was wracked with tears and sobs and it kept trying to purge itself of the horror it felt.

Gaara, after he had finished destroying the camp, came back to her, his face softened and his hand outstretched. Ino was too ashamed. Ashamed of her weakness in getting caught and of her inability to escape. She was ashamed that she hadn't listened to him when he'd been so right, and that he'd had to come out and rescue her. But most of all she was ashamed that some part of her was slightly horrified at the ease with which he killed, and the look on his face, and the sight of the blood drenching the sand…

So she turned away, unable to face the horror now after all the terror she'd been through, and she passed out.

* * *

What did you think? And no worries about the next chapter, I'll probably crack and post it after work tonight, if I don't post it earlier. I never really work well with cliffhangers.

So I think I'll go look at my KibaIno, which I finished last week, and decide whether its actually worth posting or not, then I'll start writing my SasuIno. You'd be pretty much guaranteed to make money if you bet on me posting the next chapter of this somewhere between there...unless I get distracted.


	13. The Reunion

AN: Wow, I caved fast. Alright, alright, here it is. Just a heads up, this is NOT the last chapter. There's just one more eensy weensy issue I want to address first.

**Chapter 12:** The Reunion

Gaara was an incredibly confused and distraught man. On the one hand, he was furious with Ino for going on that field trip against his wishes, and he was angry with her for getting caught. But he was even angrier with himself for being so weak as to let her go in the first place.

He was also horrified with himself for losing control like that…and he didn't even have the Shukaku to blame this one on. He'd seen the look of horror in Ino's eyes right before she had passed out from exhaustion. She was afraid of him now, just like everybody else.

Kankuro had come to tell him Ino had woken up an hour ago, and she was fine and just as fiery as ever, but Gaara couldn't bring himself to go and visit her. He was sure she didn't want him there and that he would just make everything worse. So he sulked at home – Temari was still running things at the Kazekage's office, she'd told him he was too worried about Ino to do it effectively right now (and she'd been right).

--

When Kankuro had informed Ino that Gaara was not going to be visiting her in the hospital she had demanded to be released immediately. The medic-nins had refused and enlisted Kankuro as a guard to keep Ino on bed rest for the day.

Needless to say, Ino was not amused. When night finally fell and she was released from the hospital she stormed, furious, out the front door and through the streets. She marched up to her own front door and opened it with a bang. Her eyes immediately latched onto the brooding shape in the corner of the sofa, and she continued striding towards her husband, her anger growing with each moment of silence.

Pausing in front of him with her hands on her hips she began her tirade.

"Honey," she said a trifle sarcastically and very angrily. "I'm home. I'm so glad that you missed me enough to come see me in the hospital! It's really thrilling to know that you care enough about me to make sure I was okay!"

"I knew you were okay," Gaara protested weakly. He had perked up a bit when she'd stormed in, furious. "Kankuro told me," he added a trifle defensively.

The Kazekage was more than a little confused. Was she not scared of him? She wasn't acting like it. And she was mad at him for not visiting… so she'd obviously wanted him there…

"What, so you just decided I'm too weak and you don't want anything to do with me anymore? Is that it? You think that just because I couldn't-"

"Shut up," Gaara demanded. He needed a minute to think and her caterwauling wasn't helping.

Ino froze, shocked. Who did he think he was? Her mouth opened and closed futilely as she attempted to express her extreme displeasure with him.

The few moments of silence were all Gaara needed to realize that she had obviously wanted to see him, and that was all that really mattered to him.

"Shut up?" Ino said, finding her voice again. Disbelief made her voice go up an octave. "Shut up? Just who do you think you – mmph?"

She was cut off when Gaara abruptly reached out, pulled her down onto his lap, and took her lips with his.

Their love for each other, the worry and terror they felt, everything, expressed itself in that one heated and incredibly passionate kiss. Ino's hands reached down to pull off Gaara's shirt as he used his sand to transport them to their bedroom, where he immediately pulled Ino under him on their bed.

--

It wasn't until a few hours later, as she was curled up next to her husband, that Ino voiced the question that had started this whole thing.

"Why didn't you come see me?" she asked, a trifle petulantly.

"I didn't think you wanted me to," he confessed.

Alarmed, Ino pushed her torso of the bed so she could look him in the eye as her fingers lazily traced circles on his muscular chest.

"Why wouldn't I want to see you? I love you."

"I – I thought you might be afraid. After what I did at the camp… you did turn away from me right before you passed out," he reminded her.

Ino frowned, and Gaara felt like his heart stopped beating as he waited for her response.

"You know I knew what you were capable of before. I was at the chunin exams with you," she reminded.

"Yes…but that was Shukaku," he reminded her gently. "This was me."

She tilted her head, thinking about what he'd said and the night of her rescue. Slowly she nodded her head.

"I suppose you're right. You want the truth?"

Gaara's eyes widened. Had he really frightened her? His hand covered her hand on his chest, as if to hold her to him forever. And he nodded – he needed to know.

"Seeing what you did was terrifying. The blood on the sand, the screams of the entire camp… I've never seen anything like it and I'll probably never forget it."

Gaara made to pull away but Ino grabbed the hand that had been holding onto hers to make him listen.

"Add that to the fact that I was exhausted, and more scared then I've ever been in my life, and yes, you were a bit frightening." Ino grinned at him, but Gaara just felt miserable.

"But," she continued, and hope sparked in the red-head's eyes, "seeing that made me realize something. You have that kind of power at your disposal all the time, but still you are one of the most gentle and kindest men I have ever met. You are respectful to those around you and you genuinely care about your people. The fact that you can restrain that kind of power only proves that you aren't someone I need to be afraid of."

"I love you," Gaara admitted out loud, for the first time in his life, as he pulled her down on top of him in a hug.

"And I love you," she reassured him, snuggling her head into his chest before a thought struck her and she giggled. "Besides, it was kind of nice knowing that you got that riled up just for me."

"Don't ever do that to me again," he warned, holding her even tighter.

"I promise," she said contentedly as they both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Yay! hee hee. Anyways, so no, this is not the end, but yes I promise not to add any more incredibly major upsets. We really are almost done now. Just that little issue I mentioned at the beginning.

Oh, and for those of you who care, the KibaIno story (Come. Sit. Stay) is posted and I've started writing the SasukeIno... check my profile for more details.


	14. Epilogue

AN: And here it is, the final chapter of A Matter of State. I'm so sad it's done, and so incredibly thrilled I've actually finished something. lol.

Anyways, thanks to all my readers who've hopefully enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it. And thanks especially to my reviewers for their encouragement and feedback. And so without further ado, I present the conclusion to my tale!

**Epilogue:**

Gaara was walking home from a long day at the office, enjoying the peace that filled his village. Some children came running up to him, asking to see him manipulate sand, and he smiled and happily complied. It was amazing what a difference three years had made – what a difference Ino had made, not just in him, but in the entire village hidden in the sand.

Making his way to the front door of their home he entered and was greeted by the delicious scent of the stew Ino had left simmering on the stove before she'd left for the Academy.

"Hi hon," Ino greeted him cheerily, turning from the stove and swaying towards him. Gaara still couldn't contain a grin at the thought that this amazing woman was _his_.

Ino pushed herself up onto her tiptoes to give him a quick peck, but Gaara hastily caught her in his arms and pulled her towards him for a much more satisfying kiss.

This lasted until Ino abruptly pushed Gaara away, and quickly turned back to the oven before pulling out a pan of corn bread and sending him a scolding glance.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to do that to me while I'm cooking?" she grumbled, unable to keep the happy gleam out of her eyes or prevent the corners of her mouth from twitching up.

Gaara grinned unrepentantly and seated himself at the table that was set with Ino's usual attention to detail.

"So," Ino said as she brought the food to the table and sat down across from Gaara. "I have news."

The Kazekage looked up at her curiously as he dished some of the fragrant stew into his bowl.

His eyebrow was raised as he waited patiently for her to continue, wondering exactly what sort of news it was. He still wasn't an expert at reading emotions, and Ino had so many she was hard to figure out sometimes.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. It's good news! …At least, I think it is," she said a trifle more hesitantly.

Gaara just nodded his head at her to continue, eager to know whatever it is she wanted to tell him.

"I know we haven't really talked about this yet, but it's happened…and, well, I'm actually looking forward to it-"

"What is it?" Gaara asked, tired of her attempts at skirting the issue.

"I'm pregnant."

Gaara froze, a sudden sense of terror coursing through him. "What?" he asked in disbelief.

"Oh come on Gaara, don't act surprised, it was bound to happen eventually what with how often-" Ino paused to clear her throat. "So. What do you think?" she asked again, a trifle more tenderly.

Gaara, unable to deal with this sudden and unexpected twist in his life, abruptly got to his feet and walked out the door.

Ino just sighed and bent forlornly over her supper. After all, she had to take care of herself now. This was her and Gaara's child, and she couldn't be happier. Okay, that was a lie. She'd be happier if her husband hadn't just left after hearing the news, but she knew Gaara would need time to accept this change and she could wait. For a little while. Then she'd just beat some sense into him.

--

Gaara wondered aimlessly around the village. His feet, however, kept trying to lead him back to Ino so Gaara finally gave in and sat down on the roof of his own home, staring at the stars. A child? It would destroy the peace of their home. Gaara didn't even think he'd make a particularly good father; it just didn't seem like something he could do. Besides, the baby would take all of Ino's attention.

Ino waited patiently for a few hours before heading to the spot she knew Gaara would end up. Jumping to the roof she walked silently towards her husband. Gaara's sand swirled around her and drew her down next to him as he sat there, silent and unmoving.

"What are you thinking?" she asked softly. When Gaara finally turned to look at her she was a little surprised by the vulnerability showing in his eyes.

"What if it doesn't like me?" he asked.

Ino wrapped an arm around him and leaned her head against his shoulder. "How could it not like you?" she said. "You're wonderful, and you're its father. The baby will love you."

"But – I don't think I can be a father," he said desperately.

Ino just waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Everyone thinks that, you'll be fine. You never know unless you try, right?"

"And…what about you?" Gaara said so quietly Ino had to strain her ears to hear him.

"I'm sure I'll be able to figure out motherhood somehow. It's supposed to be natural instinct…"

"No," he said a little bit louder. "It's not going to hurt you is it?"

Ino froze, unable to really answer that. It never ceased to amaze her how much Gaara cared about her. "Gaara, I'll be fine. It's what I want."

"And what about us?"

"We'll have a baby. We'll be a family!"

And Gaara decided he could live with that.

--

His acceptance of the decision was shaken when Ino started throwing up every morning. It hurt him to see her miserable and hunched over the toilet bowl.

The pregnancy was harder on Ino then she'd expected. Not because of the baby, oddly enough, but because of Gaara. He'd get so worried about her, and while it was sweet, it just made her more concerned. She needed a friend with her to deal with all of this. So Temari and Sakura both made plans to come to Suna for the last trimester. Until then, however, Ino was on her own.

--

The hardest on Gaara, and probably the most entertaining for everyone else (as long as they were far away), were the mood swings. Ino had always been subject to abrupt changes in mood, but pregnancy increased her unpredictability tenfold.

Gaara quickly learned he could deal with the angry Ino – he'd just wrap himself up in sand armor and let her throw whatever she wanted at him (and this included everything from clothing or shoes to their blender or the television).

He could also deal with the exuberant Ino – in fact he quite liked that.

What he couldn't take was the sad Ino. The accusations that he hated her cut him a little too deep, and all he could do was hold her in his arms and gently rock his sobbing wife back and forth, telling her he loved her until she'd finally let him kiss her and everything would be back to normal…at least for a while. She tended to go through the cycle (from angry to sad to exuberant and back again) a couple times a day, and it was very trying on the Kazekage, who had to leave many of his official duties in the hands of his older brother. On one occasion he'd left Ino with Kankuro, but the puppeteer had refused to do that ever _ever_ again.

--

Time passed, and Gaara learned to keep the house well stocked with cheezies and peanut butter. Why, he wasn't entirely certain, but Ino got very angry when she wanted one or the other and it was not there. He even learned to ignore the odd occasions where she would actually eat them both together, dipping the cheezies into the peanut butter.

--

Ino on the other hand had been coping surprisingly well – aside from the fact that she was an emotional mess. It was when her fifth month hit that Ino completely broke down.

She had just stepped out of the shower and was pulling on her clothes when she came to an earth shattering realization.

"I'm fat!" she wailed, and threw herself on the bed in despair. Gaara found her there a few hours later, and spent the rest of the day convincing her that no, she wasn't fat, and yes, he still loved her. And of course she couldn't go on a diet, she needed to eat for the baby, their baby.

--

When Ino's water broke Gaara, Sakura, Kankuro, Temari, Shikamaru and Choji rushed Ino to the hospital. She was a week early, and unfortunately Ino's parents weren't due to arrive until the next day.

Sakura was with Ino, delivering the baby as the blonde would not trust anybody else.

Temari however, was in the waiting room. Her and Kankuro were attempting to keep Gaara calm. When Ino's scream broke through the air (filling it with profanity), Choji and Shikamaru joined in, holding the frustrated Kazekage in place with their jutsus.

--

Yet somehow, hours later, everything was perfect, better than he could have ever imagined. He was sitting on a chair pulled up next to the bed his exhausted wife lay on, just staring and reassuring himself that she was in fact alright. Sakura came in with a little bundle of blankets, and offered it to Ino who sluggishly pulled herself into a sitting position before accepting it.

She gently pulled the blankets a little away from the tiny face, before looking at Sakura questioningly. "It's a girl," Sakura said with a smile before exiting the room to tell the others.

Gaara leaned in to look timidly, and was surprised when Ino quickly kissed the baby's forehead and them proffered her to him.

A panicked look filled his eyes, but the exhaustion on Ino's pleading face made him carefully reach out and accept the bundle that contained their daughter.

He looked down at the baby and couldn't help the grin that crept onto his face. She had red hair, like him. Her eyes were big and pleading, like Ino's, but they were green, like his. His nose, his chin, and Ino's lips. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

A few minutes later the rest of the group trooped in to see the new arrival. Gaara refused to relinquish his hold on her, so they all gathered around and crooned at the baby for a while. An outsider would have noted with fascination how all of the rough faces softened immediately at the sight of the baby girl.

"What's her name?" Shikamaru asked. Gaara only shrugged. He and Ino had never gotten around to discussing baby names. He figured they'd worry about that when she was feeling better.

Not long after everyone left again. Sakura reminded him to get some rest as well before closing the hospital door – no one would dare send the Kazekage home and away from his wife.

Acknowledging the need for sleep Gaara gently stood and gave the sleeping Ino a quick kiss before walking to the bed next to hers and laying down, the baby in his arms. He fell asleep with his new daughter held securely to his chest.

Ino awoke a few hours later and when she saw her peacefully sleeping husband with their daughter in his arms she gave a contented smile before sinking back into slumber.

--

"Come on kids, time for breakfast!" Ino shouted up the stairs before turning back into the kitchen and putting the finishing touches on the meal.

Eleven year old Akina came bounding down the stairs first and Ino grinned at the sight of her oldest daughter's unruly red hair. Keitaro, their second child and only boy followed her. The blonde ten year old reminded her of Naruto, although Gaara always said Keitaro got his personality from her.

Amaya and Hana, eight and six, came down to breakfast next, the two blondes chatting amicably about everything under the sun.

Finally her husband came, clasping the hand of two year old Ayame (who looked exactly like a miniature version of Ino).

"Hurry up we don't want to be late," Ino urged, excited that she was returning to her teaching career after an eleven year hiatus.

The doorbell rang and Ino hollered a "Come in, it's unlocked," and hardly a minute passed before Kankuro – still very much a bachelor – entered the family scene.

"Uncle Kankuro!" the children squealed as they all piled on him in a hug.

"Thanks for taking care of Ayame and Hana," Ino said, pecking him on the cheek in greeting.

"No problem," Kankuro shrugged. "I can do all the work I need to while I'm here."

"All right everyone, time to go!" Ino said, herding her children towards the door and making sure they all had their lunches and coats. "Keitaro, leave your sister alone. Akina dear, your hair would look much nicer if you'd just let me braid it? No. All right, you're too pretty anyways so I suppose it doesn't matter. Ayame stop hiding and come on, you're supposed to be excited for your first day. Oh, and Keitaro, just because I'm your teacher is no excuse to goof off. Try any funny stuff today and I'll make you eat your socks, got that?"

Alternating between cajoling and threatening, Ino got all of her children safely out the door before running back and giving her husband a quick kiss. "Love you," she said hurriedly before running off after her pack of kids.

"Love you too," Gaara called after her, receiving a wave as acknowledgement.

"Why can't I go to the Academy daddy?" Hana demanded.

"You're not old enough," he reminded her. "Now I have to go too, so you behave for Uncle Kankuro, alright?"

"I suppose," she huffed.

"Bye Hana," Gaara said, bending down and giving his daughter a kiss on the forehead. "Bye Ayame," he repeated the motion.

"Buh-bye daddy," little Ayame said, raising a chubby fist in farewell before pausing. "Sand?" she asked hopefully.

"Not today, I'm running late. I'll play with you tonight, okay?" Gaara promised. Thinking for a minute, the two year old nodded and then trundled off to find "Uncle Kanky."

"Thanks again Kankuro," Gaara called as his brother materialized in the kitchen doorway.

"Go be important," Kankuro said. "I'm going to stay here and play!"

"You never will grow up, will you?" Gaara sighed.

"Nope!...but you grew up well," Kankuro said.

Gaara thought for a moment. "You know, I never would have imagined that I could have had all this…"

"No offence bro, but I didn't either. It fits you somehow though."

Gaara nodded before waving good-bye and exiting his home. Kankuro was right, he decided. It did fit. For the first time Gaara realized that he wouldn't change anything in his life, since everything that had happened resulted in him having everything he had never dared dream of. It was as perfect a life as one could ask for in the crazy world they lived in.

* * *

On a totally unrelated note (well unrelated to this story) it's Sasuke's birthday tomorrow! I have mixed feelings about that ba-...that man. Regardless, I'm thinking that in honour of his birthday I'll be posting the first chapter to my SasuIno story either later today or tomorrow. And also because I promised to write it after I finished this story.

Bye! Hope to see you at my next story!

* * *


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